COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES 


GUNSTON   HALL,  VIRGINIA. 
Built  about  1729. 


COLONIAL 


DAYS  &  DAMES 

BY 

J^ 


With  Illustrations  by  E.S.Holloway 


•ft 


T     ». 

J.B.LIPPINCOTTC9 

V?"? 1,,  i.  .  ..  .j  ,--v\         Q 

4, 


COPYRIGHT,  1894., 

BY 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 

7  2. 


PRINTED  BV  J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  PHILADELPHIA,   U.S.A. 


TO    THE    MEMORY    OF    AN    HONORED    COLONIAL 
DAME    OF    TO-DAY, 

DEBORAH  BROWN  COLEMAN, 

THIS    BRIEF   RECORD    OF 
COLONIAL   LIFE 

is 
Affectionately     Dedicated. 


PREFACE. 

WHILE  men  still  recall  the  rustic  pleas 
ures  of  an  old  country  seat  in  New  York 
whose  site  is  now  the  heart  of  the  great 
metropolis,  or  remember  forest  trees  sur 
rounding  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Twelfth 
and  Chestnut  Streets  in  Philadelphia,  or 
tell  of  a  boyhood  spent  in  the  pretty 
country  town  of  Boston  where  stage 
coaches  clattered  in  from  the  rural  dis 
tricts,  it  seems  time  to  collect  in  perma 
nent  form  memorials  of  a  past  that  cannot 
much  longer  be  held  in  the  memory  of  the 
living.  By  talking  with  men  and  women 
who  lived  in  the  first  quarter  of  this  cen 
tury,  we  not  only  learn  how  our  great 
cities  appeared  before  the  advent  of  the 
railroad,  the  steamboat,  and  the  telegraph, 
but  also,  reaching  back  through  their 

7 


8  PREFACE. 

family  traditions,  are  placed  in  touch  with 
the  scenes  of  the  Revolution  and,  even 
further  back,  with  those  of  Colonial  days. 
To  give  glimpses  of  social  and  domestic 
life  North  and  South,  gathered  from  such 
recollections  and  from  diaries  and  letters, 
rather  than  to  present  a  full  or  connected 
story  of  Colonial  times,  have  these  pages 
been  written.  For  manuscripts,  pictures, 
and  data  placed  at  my  disposal,  I  take 
pleasure  in  making  grateful  acknowledg 
ment  to  Mr.  Justin  Winsor,  of  Cambridge, 
to  General  Loring  and  Mr.  Henry  Ernest 
Woods,  of  Boston,  to  Mr.  Matthew  Clark- 
son,  of  New  York,  to  Miss  Adelaide  L. 
Fries,  of  Salem,  North  Carolina,  and  to 
Dr.  Charles  J.  Stille,  Mr.  David  Lewis, 
Mr.  Edward  Shippen,  Dr.  Charles  Cad- 
walader,  Mr.  F.  J.  Dreer,  Mrs.  Oliver 
Hopkinson,  and  Miss  Marion  Wetherill, 
of  Philadelphia. 

A.  H.  W. 

November,  1894. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

COLONIAL   DAYS II 

WOMEN    IN   THE    EARLY   SETTLEMENT 6l 

A   GROUP   OF   EARLY   POETESSES 99 

COLONIAL   DAMES 125 

OLD   LANDMARKS 153 

WEDDINGS   AND   MERRY-MAKINGS 195 

LEGEND  AND   ROMANCE 219 


COLONIAL   DAYS. 


"  I  SHALL  call  that  my  country  where 
I  may  most  glorify  God  and  enjoy  the 
presence  of  my  dearest  friends,"  wrote 
Governor  Winthrop  from  Massachusetts 
to  his  absent  wife;  while  the  Rev.  Francis 
Higginson,  stronger  in  his  expressions  of 
renunciation  for  himself  and  others,  has 
left  the  following  testimony  in  his  diary : 
"  When  we  are  in  our  graves,  it  will  be 
all  one  whether  we  have  lived  in  plenty 
or  penury,  whether  we  have  dyed  in  a 
bed  of  downe  or  lockes  of  straw.  Onely 


ii 


12  COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

this  is  the  advantage  of  the  meane  con 
dition,  that  it  is  a  more  freedom  to  dye. 
And  the  lesse  comfort  any  have  in  the 
things  of  this  world,  the  more  liberty  they 
have  to  lay  up  treasure  in  heaven." 

Although  many  of  the  Colonists  came 
to  the  shores  of  the  New  World  with  such 
words  upon  their  lips,  and,  we  may  believe, 
with  such  sentiments  in  their  minds,  it  was 
not  long  before  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon  enter 
prise  and  English  love  of  home  comfort 
led  them  to  make  the  wilderness,  if  not  to 
blossom  like  the  rose  of  the  Scriptures,  at 
least  to  take  upon  it  something  approach 
ing  civilization. 

No  stronger  contrast  is  to  be  found  in 
Colonial  history  than  the  sad  story  of  the 
earliest  Virginia  settlements,  wiped  out  one 
after  the  other  by  starvation  and  the  hos 
tility  of  the  natives,  with  that  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Colonists,  clinging  with  English 
tenacity  to  their  rock-bound  coast,  defying 
danger,  cold,  and  hunger,  guarding  their 
scant  stores,  restraining  their  appetites, — 
planting  the  first  corn  that  fell  in  their 
way,  showing  their  wisdom  in  that  dark 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  13 

day  by  providing  for  a  still  darker  one,— 
watchful,  alert,  devout,  trusting  in  the  pro 
tection  of  an  unseen  Father,  a  body  of 
deeply  religious  men  and  women,  even  if 
in  the  exercise  of  their  faith  they  were  often 
harder  than  the  stones  with  which  they 
ground  their  corn. 

The  expressions  of  the  New  England 
settlers  often  seem  to  us  too  spiritual  to  be 
natural  in  an  hour  when  temporal  needs 
pressed  sorely  upon  them,  yet  the  promise 
which  they  claimed  for  themselves — "  Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  right 
eousness  ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you" — was  destined  to  be  ful 
filled,  if  not  to  them,  to  their  children  in 
the  next  generation,  in  greater  comfort  of 
living,  in  peace  and  prosperity,  in  manu 
factures  and  commerce.  Dwelling-,  meet 
ing-,  and  school-houses  sprang  up  all  over 
the  eastern  portion  of  the  Colony,  and  six 
teen  years  after  the  little  company  of  Pil 
grims  had  coasted  along  the  shores  of 
Massachusetts,  in  terror  of  starvation,  of 
cold,  and  of  the  Indians,  a  college  was 
founded.  A  humble  enough  structure  was 


14  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

the  first  building  raised  at  Harvard,  al 
though  there  were  those  who  pronounced 
it  "  too  gorgeous  for  the  wilderness." 

In  glancing  over  the  Colonies,  North  and 
South,  there  seems  to  have  been  no  life 
more  delightful  than  that  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia.  Handsome,  spacious  mansions, 
a  fertile  soil,  genial  climate,  fine  horses, 
and  retinues  of  servants  conspired  to  give 
the  home  life  of  the  Southern  planter  many 
of  the  characteristics  of  English  country 
living.  Yet  with  all  its  advantages  a  dis 
couraging  record  is  that  of  the  first  efforts 
to  colonize  Virginia.  John  Quincy  Adams 
said,  in  an  oration  delivered  early  in  this 
century,  that  the  final  success  of  the  Virginia 
settlements  was  largely  due  to  the  example 
of  Massachusetts.  As  these  settlements 
were  started  long  before  that  of  Plymouth, 
and  as  the  places  of  those  who  failed  were 
speedily  filled  by  others,  ready  and  willing 
to  try  the  hazardous  experiment,  it  seems 
as  if  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Virginia  col 
onization  might  be  fairly  attributed  to  the 
courage  and  perseverance  of  the  settlers 
themselves.  When  men  equal  to  the  tin- 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  15 

dertaking  were  sent  over,  the  settlement 
of  the  Colpny  became  an  assured  success, 
despite  pestilence,  starvation,  and  the  con 
stant  harrying  of  the  borders  by  hostile 
Indians.  Governor  Dudley's  pathetic  let 
ter  to  the  Countess  of  Lincoln,  written 
soon  after  he  came  to  Salem,  finds  a  par 
allel  in  the  expressions  of  Lord  Delaware, 
who  says  that  if  the  "  much  cold  comfort," 
in  the  way  of  bad  news  of  the  settlements, 
that  met  him  upon  his  arrival  in  1610  had 
not  been  accompanied  by  tidings  of  the 
coming  over  of  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  "it 
had  binne  sufficient  to  have  broke  my 
heart." 

The  story  of  rude  beginnings  and  estab 
lished  prosperity  is  substantially  the  same 
all  along  the  coast.  In  Pennsylvania,  New 
"  Jersey,  and  Delaware,  fair  and  judicious 
dealings  with  the  Indians  insured  peace 
between  them  and  the  settlers  for  many 
years.  We  read  of  a  Mrs.  Chandler,  "  who 
came  to  Philadelphia  at  the  first  landing, 
having  lost  her  husband  on  shipboard 
[probably  from  small-pox],  and  who  was 
left  with  eight  or  nine  children.  Her  com- 


1 6  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

panions  prepared  her  the  usual  settlement 
in  a  cave  on  the  river-bank.  So  great  was 
the  sympathy  felt  for  this  lady  that  even 
the  Indians  brought  her  supplies  and  gifts, 
and  later  a  Friend  [meaning  a  Quaker] 
built  a  house  and  gave  her  a  share  of  it." 
Yet  how  few  complaints  we  find  !  how  sim 
ply  the  record  reads  !  The  chronicler  of  the 
time  dwells  more  upon  the  climate,  pro 
ductions  of  the  country,  characteristics  of 
the  natives,  and  improvements  made  up  to 
1696,  which  included  "  several  good  schools 
for  the  teaching  of  youth,"  than  upon  the 
struggles  and  privations  of  the  settlers.  So 
much  was  this  the  case,  that  of  the  early 
voyages  to  Pennsylvania,  when  small-pox 
often  ravaged  the  ship's  company,  we 
find  almost  no  detailed  account.  Some 
times  the  fact  is  mentioned  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  as  when  James  Claypoole  writes  to 
Robert  Turner  that  he  hears  that  thirty- 
one  persons  have  died  of  small-pox  in 
William  Penn's  ship,  the  Welcome.  There 
were  only  one  hundred  passengers  in  all. 
Elsewhere,  Townsend  and  Story  tell  us 
that  the  Proprietary  himself  assisted  good 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  I/ 

Dr.  Thomas  Wynne  in  the  care  of  the  sick 
and  dying. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  primitiveness 
of  this  early  living,  we  find  the  following 
story  of  little  Rebecca  Coleman,  who  came 
over  with  the  first  Pennsylvania  settlers. 
At  the  door  of  her  cave,  when  one  day  sit 
ting  there  eating  her  milk  porridge,  she  was 
heard  to  say  again  and  again,  "  Now  thee 
shan't,"  and  again,  "  Keep  to  thy  part." 
Upon  investigation  it  was  discovered  that 
the  child's  "  thees"  and  "  thous"  were  ad 
dressed  to  a  snake  with  which,  in  the  most 
confiding  manner,  and  with  strict  regard  to 
justice,  she  was  sharing  her  supper  of  milk 
porridge  from  a  bowl  placed  upon  the 
ground.  "  Happy  simplicity  and  peaceful- 
ness  !"  adds  the  chronicler,  for  these  were 
days  when  no  tale  was  complete  without 
its  moral,  "  reminding  one  strongly  of  the 
Bible  promise,  when  the  weaned  child 
should  put  its  hand  on  the  cockatrice's 
den."  The  promise  was  literally  fulfilled 
in  the  case  of  little  Rebecca  Coleman,  as 
she  suffered  no  injury,  and,  having  survived 
the  perils  of  the  early  settlement,  lived 


1 8  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

to  within  a  few  years  of  the  Revolution. 
Great  changes  was  she  destined  to  witness 
in  her  life  of  ninety-two  years  !  Philadel 
phia,  then  a  high  river-bank,  with  a  dense 
forest  back  of  it,  was  soon  to  be  what 
Gabriel  Thomas  found  it,  a  "  noble  and 
beautiful  city,"  containing  "  a  number  of 
houses,  all  inhabited,  and  most  of  them 
stately  and  of  brick,  generally  three  stories 
high,  after  the  mode  of  London."  This  in 
1696,  while  in  1744,  William  Black  wrote 
that  Philadelphia  far  exceeded  all  descrip 
tions  he  had  heard  of  it.  He  was  specially 
impressed  by  the  number  of  privateers  in 
the  harbor,  "  the  Considerable  Traffick,  in 
shipping  and  unshipping  of  Goods,  mostly 
American  Produce,"  and  the  comfort  and 
even  luxury  in  which  dwelt  Mr.  Andrew 
Hamilton,  Secretary  Peters,  Mr.  Thomas 
Lawrence,  and  others  who  entertained 
him. 

Mr.  Black  grows  quite  enthusiastic  over 
the  markets  of  Philadelphia,  from  which, 
he  says,  "  You  may  be  Supply'd  with  every 
Necessary  for  the  Support  of  Life  thro'ut 
the  whole  year,  both  Extraordinary  Good 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  1 9 

and  reasonably  Cheap,  and  it  is  allow'd  by 
Foreigners  to  be  the  best  of  its  bigness  in 
the  known  World,  and  undoubtedly  the 
largest  in  America ;  I  got  to  the  place  by 
7 ;  and  had  no  small  satisfaction  in  seeing 
the  pretty  Creatures,  the  Young  Ladies, 
traversing  the  place  from  Stall  to  Stall, 
where  they  could  make  the  best  Market, 
some  with  their  Maid  behind  them  with  a 
Basket  to  carry  home  the  Purchase,  Others 
that  were  designed  to  buy  but  trifles,  as  a 
little  fresh  Butter,  a  Dish  of  Green  Peas,  or 
the  like,  had  Good  Nature  and  Humility 
enough  to  be  their  own  Porter."  This  pleas 
ing  picture,  even  after  making  some  allow 
ance  for  the  floridness  of  Mr.  Black's  style, 
suggests  comfort  and  plenty  sufficient  to 
present  a  strong  contrast  to  the  minds  of 
those  who,  like  Rebecca  Coleman,  were 
able  to  recall  the  hardships  of  the  first  set 
tlement  of  Pennsylvania ;  while  in  New 
England  the  "  city-like  town  of  Boston 
with  its  beautiful  and  large  buildings,"  de 
scribed  by  a  traveller  in  1649,  marked  rapid 
progress  from  the  little  companies  at  Salem 
and  Charlestown  drawing  close  together 


2O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

for  safety  upon  the  three  hills  of  Shaw- 
mut 

The  strongest  reason  for  the  final  tri 
umph  over  many  and  great  obstacles  in  the 
early  settlement  is  doubtless  to  be  found 
in  the  character  of  the  immigrants.  Mr. 
Hollister,  in  his  "  History  of  Connecticut," 
after  stating  that  many  of  those  who  came 
to  New  England  were  from  the  humbler 
walks  of  life,  says,  "  The  planters,  the  sub 
stantial  landholders,  who  began  to  plant 
those  '  three  vines  in  the  wilderness,'  sprung 
from  the  better  classes,  and  a  large  propor 
tion  of  them  from  the  landed  gentry  of 
England.  This  fact  is  proved  not  only  by 
tracing  individual  families,  but  by  the  very 
names  that  those  founders  of  our  republic 
bore." 

True  as  this  was  of  New  England, 
with  its  Winthrops,  Saltonstalls,  Endi- 
cotts,  Winslows,  Bradfords,  Pynchons,  and 
Wentworths,  it  was  equally  the  case  in  the 
Middle  and  Southern  Colonies,  to  which 
early  came  the  Livingstons,  Schuylers, 
Crugers,  De  Peysters,  De  Lanceys,  Mont- 
gomerys,  Peningtons,  Lloyds,  Rodneys, 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  21 

Calverts,  Francises,  Ravenels,  Pringles, 
and  Izards.  If,  as  has  often  been  said, 
and  with  some  truth,  Virginia  was  a 
Botany  Bay  for  English  criminals,  it  is 
only  fair  to  acknowledge  that  many  of 
these  were  political  offenders,  and  as 
likely  to  be  in  the  right  as  their  accusers. 
England  also  sent  to  this  Colony  the 
Washingtons,  Fairfaxes,  Byrds,  Harri 
sons,  Spotswoods,  Culpepers,  Skipwiths, 
Pages,  and  Randolphs. 

One  needs  only  to  glance  over  these 
names  to  realize  that  they  did  not,  as  a 
rule,  belong  to  irresponsible  adventurers, 
although  of  such  there  were  some  in  all 
the  Colonies. 

Men  who  came  from  families  of  good 
position  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  felt 
it  no  dishonor  to  put  their  hands  to 
any  honest  toil  that  had  for  its  object 
the  work  of  home-making  and  nation- 
building.  Hence  among  the  first  settlers 
of  Pennsylvania  we  find  many  good  Eng 
lish  names  connected  with  the  trades  of 
tailor,  hatter,  carpenter,  and  the  like,  while 
from  early  New  England  records  we  learn 


22  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

that  Roger  Wolcott,  a  Colonial  governor 
and  a  man  of  letters,  worked  in  the  field ; 
that  Governor  Leete  kept  a  store  ;  while 
John  Dunton,  when  he  came  to  Boston  in 
1696,  rejoiced  to  find  Mr.  Samuel  Shrimp- 
ton's  "  stately  house  there,  with  a  Brass 
Kettle  atop,  to  show  his  Father  was  not 
ashamed  of  his  Original." 

Later,  when  the  idea  of  good  livings  to 
be  made  in  a  country  where  land  was  to 
be  had  for  the  asking  and  where  fortunes 
might  be  gained  through  trade  with  the 
Indies,  prevailed  through  Great  Britain  and 
the  Continent,  a  different  class  of  people 
came  to  America.  Many  of  these  were 
skilled  workers,  thrifty  in  their  habits, 
good,  law-abiding  citizens,  like  the  Scotch 
and  Irish  from  Ulster  and  the  Germans 
who  settled  Germantown  and  came  in 
such  numbers  to  other  portions  of  Penn 
sylvania. 

In  the  Southern  Colonies  there  seem  to 
have  been  fewer  men  of  a  practical  stamp 
in  the  earliest  immigrations  ;  hence  from 
Virginia,  John  Smith,  and  later  Lord  Dela 
ware,  wrote  home  that  they  could  not  set- 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  23 

tie  the  Colony  without  "  men  of  quality, 
and  painstaking  men  of  arts  and  practices, 
chosen  out  and  sent  into  the  business." 
This  was  William  Penn's  principle,  so 
strongly  emphasized  in  the  settlement  of 
Pennsylvania,  that  the  learning  of  a  trade 
was  the  fittest  equipment  for  colonization. 
Mr.  Douglas  Campbell  has  recounted  the 
debt  that  the  New  England  settlers  owe  to 
their  temporary  residence  among  the  thrifty 
Hollanders,  in  legislation  as  well  as  in 
manufactures,  commerce,  and  other  arts  of 
life.  Pennsylvania  also  owes  something  to 
the  Dutch,  as  it  is  safe  to  believe  that  the 
founder  of  the  Province  derived  many  of 
the  practical  elements  in  his  well-balanced 
character  from  his  Dutch  mother,  Margaret 
Jasper. 

Simplicity  of  manners  prevailed  for  many 
years  from  necessity,  but  the  settlers  of 
Pennsylvania  surrounded  themselves  with 
whatever  comforts  and  conveniences  they 
could  command.  An  extensive  commerce 
was  soon  established  with  the  Indies  and 
the  ports  of  Southern  Europe,  while  the 
Germans  and  the  Scotch  -  Irish  added 


24  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

much  to  the  industrial  prosperity  of  the 
Province.* 

Substantial  and  convenient  houses  were 
soon  built,  among  these  Robert  Turner's 
"  great  and  famous  house,"  so  often  spoken 
of,  and  the  Proprietary's  house  in  Letitia 
Court,  for  which,  as  well  as  for  the  con 
struction  of  his  "  Pennsbury  Palace,"  the 
finer  part  of  the  framework  was  sent  over 
from  England.  The  ancient  doorway  of 
the  latter  house  bore  the  cheerful  and  in 
viting  ornament  of  a  vine  and  cluster  of 
grapes. 

The  first  Edward  Shippen  is  said  to  have 
"  surpassed  his  contemporaries  in  the  style 
and  grandeur  of  his  edifice  and  appurte 
nances  for  crossing  the  water,"  which  latter 
phrase,  we  conclude,  refers  to  boats  used 
for  business  or  pleasure,  as  Mr.  Shippen's 
grounds  extended  to  Dock  Creek.  This 

*  German  linen,  camlets,  and  serges  were  made  in 
Germantown  as  early  as  1696,  and  Judge  Samuel  W. 
Pennypacker  says  that  to  the  Germans  is  due  the  honor 
of  establishing  the  first  paper-mill  in  America,  in  1690, 
and  of  printing  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue  nearly 
forty  years  before  it  was  printed  in  English. 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  25 

house  on  South  Second  Street,  afterwards 
called  the  Governor's  House,  had  an  or 
chard  and  fine  garden  around  it,  which, 
says  the  admiring  chronicler,  "equalizes 
any  I  have  ever  seen,  having  a  very  famous 
and  pleasant  summer-house  erected  in  the 
middle  of  his  garden,  abounding  with 
tulips,  pinks,  carnations,  roses  and  lilies, 
not  to  mention  those  that  grew  wild  in  the 
fields,  and  also  a  fine  lawn  upon  which 
reposed  his  herd  of  tranquil  deer." 

If  the  Friend  modestly,  or  with  an  affec 
tation  of  modesty,  called  his  coach  u  a  con 
venience,"  it  was  none  the  less  a  coach. 
The  Proprietary  early  drove  his  coach  in 
Philadelphia,  and  from  thence  to  Penns- 
bury,  and  Isaac  Norris,  the  son  of  an  Eng 
lish  merchant  who  had  settled  in  Jamaica, 
sent  to  England  for  a  coach,  and,  although 
a  strict  Quaker,  did  not  scruple  to  have 
the  three  falcons'  heads  of  the  family  shield 
emblazoned  upon  its  side.  The  Norrises 
also  had  their  portraits  painted  while 
in  London,  which  was  a  custom  objected 
to  later  by  Quakers  as  savoring  of  the 
world.  In  her  picture  by  Kneller,  Mrs. 
B  3 


26     COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

Isaac  Norris  appears  as  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  women  of  her  time,  nor  is  her 
costume  strictly  Friendly,  the  prevailing 
colors  being  red  and  green,  the  lovely  hair 
rolled  back  from  the  forehead  and  worn 
without  a  cap. 

There  was  no  persecution  for  religion  in 
Pennsylvania ;  but  there  was  less  friendli 
ness  between  the  Quakers  and  the  Church 
people,  as  the  latter  came  to  have  more 
authority  and  influence  in  the  government. 
Such  spicy  expletives  as  the  "  Hot  Church 
Party,"  and  "  Colonel  Quarry's  Packed 
Vestry,"  we  find  in  the  mouths  of  good 
Friends  of  the  day,  while  William  Penn,  in 
a  letter  to  James  Logan,  says  that  Gov 
ernor  Gookin  has  presented  Parson  Evans* 
with  "  two  as  gaudy  and  costly  Common 
Prayer  Books  as  the  Queen  has  in  her 
chapel,  and  intends  as  fine  a  Communion 
table,  both  of  which  charm  the  baby  in 
the  Bishop  of  London,  as  well  as  Parson 
Evans." 


*  This  was  the  Rev.  Evan  Evans,  rector  of  Christ 
Church  parish  in  1719. 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  2/ 

Something  like  uniformity  of  thought 
and  purpose  prevailed  in  Colonial  New 
England,  with  the  exception  of  Rhode 
Island,  which,  like  the  Provinces  of  Penn 
sylvania  and  Maryland,  early  became  a 
refuge  for  the  disaffected  from  the  neigh 
boring  settlements,  naturally  inducing  a 
more  restless  religious  life  and  a  larger 
religious  toleration.  Mr.  Lodge  attributes 
the  strong  and  sustained  individuality  of 
the  New  England  people  not  simply  to 
their  Puritanism,  but  also  to  the  fact  that 
they  were  of  English  strain,  with  only 
slight  admixture  from  other  nationalities. 
"  Race,  language,  religious  belief,  manners, 
customs,  and  habits  of  mind  and  thought 
were,"  he  says,  "  the  same  irom  the  forests 
of  Maine  to  the  shores  of  Long  Island 
Sound.  .  .  .  They  were  all  pure  English 
men,  the  purest  part  of  the  race  perhaps,  for 
during  a  century  and  a  half  [in  1765]  they 
had  lived  in  a  New  World,  and  received 
no  fresh  infusion  of  blood  from  any  race 
but  their  own." 

The  Quaker  who  came  to  Pennsylvania 
was  quite  as  single-minded  as  the  Puritan 


28     COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

of  New  England,  and  as  sincere  and  earnest 
in  following  the  guidance  of  that  "  inner 
light"  which  stood  with  him  for  duty,  con 
science,  all  that  belongs  to  the  moral  and 
spiritual  development  of  man,  as  was  his 
New  England  brother  in  carrying  out  the 
rules  and  ordinances  of  the  religious  body 
to  which  he  belonged.  While  the  New 
England  Colonies  were  developing  along 
their  own  lines,  with  scant  charity  for  those 
whose  ideas  ran  in  other  channels,  Penn 
sylvania,  from  her  position  and  charter, 
became  the  home  not  only  of  the  English 
and  the  Welsh  Quaker,  who  came  to  it  as 
to  his  birthright  of  freedom,  religious  and 
civil,  but  of  the  English  Churchman,  with 
his  more  conservative  notions ;  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian,  as  firmly  estab 
lished  in  his  spiritual  convictions  as  the 
Puritan,  although  less  favorably  placed  by 
Providence  for  the  direction  of  his  neigh 
bor's  conscience ;  of  the  Roman  Catholic ; 
of  the  German  and  Swedish  Lutheran; 
and  of  many  less  distinct  subdivisions  of 
Protestantism.  Fourteen  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Pennsylvania,  Gabriel  Thomas 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  2Q 

speaks  of  numerous  places  of  worship  in 
Philadelphia,  —  of  one  Anabaptist,  one 
Swedish  Lutheran,  one  Presbyterian,  two 
Quaker  meeting-houses,  and  of  a  fine  church 
belonging  to  the  Church  of  England  people. 
This  was  Christ  Church,  built  in  1695,  be 
fore  the  English  communion  had  found  an 
abiding-place  in  the  much  older  city  of 
Boston.  "  The  place  is  free  for  all  per 
suasions,"  he  adds,  "  in  a  sober  and  civil 
way ;  for  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
Quakers  bear  equal  share  in  the  govern 
ment.  They  live  friendly  well  together ; 
there  is  no  persecution  for  religion,  nor 
ever  like  to  be." 

From  the  various  admixture  of  nation 
alities  and  creeds  in  Pennsylvania  was 
evolved,  in  less  than  a  century,  a  popula 
tion  representing  many  shades  of  belief, 
political  and  religious,  and  with  strongly 
marked  differences  in  character  and  ways 
of  living.  The  early  Quakers  seem  to 
have  been  less  rigid  in  their  manners  and 
customs  than  those  who  followed  them. 
The  simplicity  in  dress  which  gradually 
obtained  was  at  first  a  protest  against 


3O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

changes  of  fashion  rather  than  to  establish 
a  garb  that  distinguished  them  from  the 
world's  people. 

On  his  first  landing  in  Pennsylvania, 
William  Penn  was  habited  in  the  Cavalier 
costume  of  the  day,  the  gold  bullion  upon 
the  coat  being  left  off  and  the  broad- 
brimmed  hat  worn  without  feathers.  There 
were  lace  ruffles  at  the  wrist,  however,  and 
some  historians  place  a  blue  silk  sash 
around  the  stalwart  proportions  of  the 
Proprietary  and  a  light  dress  sword  by  his 
side.  A  handsome,  well-built  man  of  thirty- 
eight  was  Penn  at  this  time,  with  courtly, 
gracious  manners,  skilled  in  all  manly  ex 
ercises.  With  this  picture  in  our  minds,  it 
is  not  difficult  to  believe  the  story  handed 
down  by  Mrs.  Preston,  of  the  athletic  Eng 
lishman  entering  into  their  games  with  the 
friendly  Indians,  and  excelling  them  all  in 
feats  of  agility,  or  that  other  tale  about 
John  Ladd.  "  Friend  John,  thou  art  Ladd 
by  name,  and  a  Ladd  in  comprehension !" 
exclaimed  the  Proprietary,  when  John  Ladd 
signified  his  preference  for  ready  money 
rather  than  for  lots  in  payment  for  his  ser- 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  3! 

vices  in  laying  out  the  new  city  of  Phila 
delphia,  adding,  "  Dost  thou  not  know  this 
will  become  a  great  city  ?" 

The  proscriptions  and  admonitions  that 
came  later  from  leading  Friends  at  home 
and  "  visiting  Friends"  from  abroad  were 
issued  in  consequence  of  the  large  influx 
into  Pennsylvania  of  persons  of  other  ways 
of  living  and  thinking,  who  brought  with 
them  temptations  for  the  younger  portion 
of  the  community,  in  dress,  manners,  and 
habits.  This  dangerous  contagion  from 
proximity  to  the  world's  people  led  the 
women  Friends  of  Burlington,  New  Jersey, 
to  issue  a  letter  from  their  Yearly  Meeting, 
in  1726,  in  which  they  besought  their  sis 
ters  to  beware  of  "  divers  undue  Liberties 
that  are  too  frequently  taken  by  some  that 
walk  among  us  and  are  accounted  of  us," 
adding, — 

"We  are  willing  in  the  pure  love  of  Truth  which 
hath  mercifully  visited  our  souls  Tenderly  to  caution 
and  advise  our  Friends  against  those  things  we  think 
inconsistent  with  our  Ancient  Christian  Testimony  of 
plainness  in  Apparel.  Some  of  which  we  think  proper 
to  particularize, — As  first  that  immodest  fashion  of 
hooped  Petticoats  or  the  imitation  of  them  either  by 


32  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

something  put  into  their  petticoats  to  make  them  sit 
full  or  wearing  more  than  is  necessary  or  any  other 
imitation  whatsoever  which  we  take  to  be  but  a  Branch 
springing  from  the  same  corrupt  root  of  Pride.  And 
also  that  none  of  our  Friends  accustom  themselves  to 
wear  their  Gowns  with  superfluous  folds  behind  but 
plain  and  decent,  nor  to  go  without  Aprons  nor  to  wear 
superfluous  Gathers  or  Pleats  in  their  Caps  or  Pinners. 
Nor  to  wear  their  Heads  dressed  high  behind,  neither 
to  cut  or  lay  their  hair  on  their  Foreheads  or  Temples. 
And  that  Friends  are  careful  to  avoid  wearing  striped 
shoes." 

That  Friendly  warnings  and  preachings 
against  foolish  fashions  were  not  without 
effect  we  learn  from  a  letter  written  by 
Thomas  Chalkley  to  his  wife  from  Tortola, 
in  the  West  Indies,  whither  he  went  in 
1741  upon  a  visitation:* 

"  I  have  a  little  more  which  I  cant  well  omit  and 
this  is  for  those  who  wear  hoops  among  us  the  Gover- 
nours.  wife  her  two  Sisters  Capt  hunts  wife  &  the 
young  woman  whose  father  turnd  her  out  of  Doors 
wore  hoops  before  they  were  Convinced  of  ye  principles 
of  our  friends  being  throughly  Convinced  ye  Could 

*  Thomas  Chalkley  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  near 
Frankford.  Here  he  lived,  and  on  this  property  his 
son-in-law,  Abel  James,  built  a  handsome  and  substan 
tial  house,  which  he  called  Chalkley  Hall. 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  33 

were  [they  could  wear]  ym  no  longer  and  Divers  fine 
young  people  have  Left  ym  of  Since  they  have  ye  Same 
Excuses  hear  [here]  all  ye  year  as  our  girls  has  in  Sum 
mer.  The  Grate  Lord  of  all  gird  our  youth  with  the 
Girdle  of  truth  and  then  they  will  not  need  those  mon 
strous  preposterous  girdes  of  hoops  I  call  it  monstrous  be 
cause  if  almighty  God  should  make  a  woman  in  the  same 
Shape  her  hoop  makes  her  Everybody  would  Say  truly 
So  according  to  this  real  truth  they  make  themselves 
Monsters  by  art." 

Thrift  and  enterprise  early  insured  a 
certain  amount  of  substantial  comfort 
among  the  settlers,  while  the  great  advan 
tages  offered  by  fine  harbors  all  along  the 
coast  and  the  various  marketable  products 
of  the  country  soon  enabled  them  to  build 
up  an  extensive  trade  with  the  East  and 
West  Indies,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  other 
countries.  Foreign  luxuries  thus  found 
their  way  to  the  Colonies,  adding  much  to 
the  pleasures  of  life,  and  seaport  towns 
gained  a  wider  outlook  into  the  world 
beyond  through  the  tales  of  adventure 
brought  home  by  their  sailor  sons,  such 
tales  as  Eleanor  Putnam  describes  the 
Salem  children  enjoying  upon  evenings 
when  "  My  Cousin  the  Captain"  and  his 


34  COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

old  friend  sailed  again  the  voyages  of  their 
youth,  disputing  and  agreeing  again  after 
the  fashion  of  old-time  cronies. 

The  most  notable  instance  of  a  fortune 
made  upon  the  seas  is  that  of  the  Pepperell 
family.  The  first  William  Pepperell  came 
from  Tavistock,  England,  to  the  Isle  of 
Shoals,  where  he  and  his  partner,  Mr.  Gib 
bons,  sent  out  their  fishing  smacks  on  the 
shores,  and  later  set  up  an  establishment  on 
one  of  the  islands  for  the  curing  and  sale 
of  their  fish.  On  a  visit  to  Kittery  Point, 
Pepperell  made  the  acquaintance  of  John 
Bray,  from  Plymouth,  whose  seventeen- 
year-old  daughter,  Margery,  he  fell  in  love 
with  and  married,  a  successful  venture  on 
the  part  of  the  suitor  having  given  Mr. 
Bray  sufficient  confidence  in  him  to  be 
willing  to  accept  him  as  a  son-in-law.  Mr. 
Bray  gave  his  daughter  a  tract  of  land 
upon  the  Point,  where  William  Pepperell 
built  a  house,  which  was  considerably  added 
to  by  his  son,  Sir  William  Pepperell.  From 
this  small  beginning,  in  a  little  more  than 
half  a  century,  the  largest  fortune  in  New 
England  was  accumulated.  The  Pepper- 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  35 

ells  built  vessels  and  sent  many  to  the 
West  Indies  laden  with  lumber,  fish,  oil, 
and  live-stock,  to  be  exchanged  for  dry 
goods,  wine,  and  salt,  or  to  sell  both  vessel 
and  cargo.  Their  largest  business  was  in 
fisheries,  however,  and  they  are  known  to 
have  had  as  many  as  a  hundred  small 
vessels  on  the  Grand  Banks  at  one  time. 

While  the  Southern  Colony  of  Virginia 
had  her  great  planters  who,  like  "  King 
Carter,"  were  renowned  for  the  sumptu- 
ousness  and  state  in  which  they  lived, 
New  York  could  boast  her  famous  Dutch 
traders  who  lived  in  substantial  comfort 
in  their  "  Bouweries"  upon  the  outskirts 
of  New  Amsterdam,  and  Massachusetts 
could  claim  such  successful  merchants 
as  Elias  Hasket  Derby,  the  eccentric 
Timothy  Dexter,  and  "  King  Hooper," 
whose  stately  home,  later  known  as  the 
Collins  and  the  Peabody  House,  from 
subsequent  possessors,  is  still  standing. 
Robert  Hooper,  Esq.,  of  Marblehead,  who 
built  his  house  at  Danvers,  once  Salem 
village,  was  something  of  a  Tory,  and  when 
General  Gage  found  Boston  too  hot  for 


36  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

him,  he  removed  to  Danvers  and  took  up 
his  abode  in  the  Hooper  House,  where  he 
resided  for  several  months,  protected  by 
two  companies  of  troops  which  were  en 
camped  in  its  vicinity. 

Madam  Knight,  in  her  famous  journey 
on  horseback  through  the  country  that 
stretches  between  Boston  and  New  York, 
doubtless  gives  a  faithful  picture  of  the 
rough  and  uncomfortable  living  of  that 
early  time ;  this,  however,  was  country  liv 
ing,  and  even  then  presented  a  great  con 
trast  to  the  life  in  villages  and  towns.  She 
records  of  the  Indians  whom  she  meets, 
that  they  are  "  the  most  salvage  of  all  the 
salvages  of  that  kind  that  I  had  ever  seen," 
yet  they  do  not  appear  to  have  molested 
her,  and  if  her  entertainment  was  so  hard 
at  one  "  Ordinary"  that  she  walked  out, 
having  paid,  as  she  remarked,  her  sixpence 
for  "  the  smell  of  her  Dinner,"  and  at  an 
other  time  objected  to  "  the  Pumpkin  and 
Indian  mixt  Bred,  and  the  Bare  Legged 
Punch,"  and  at  Norwalk  to  her  bed  of  corn 
husks,  which,  "  when  scratched  up  by  Lit 
tle  Miss,  Russelled  as  if  she'd  been  in  the 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  37 

Barn  amongst  the  Husks,"  there  were  other 
places,  as  Saxton's  at  Stonington,  the  widow 
Prentice's  at  New  London,  New  Haven, 
and  Fairfield,  where  she  was  "well  ac 
commodated  as  to  victuals  and  Lodging," 
and  hospitable  entertainment  was  offered 
her  in  the  homes  of  the  Rev.  Gurden  Sal- 
tonstall,  of  New  London,  and  Governor 
John  Winthrop,  of  New  Haven. 

One  of  the  most  amusing  passages  of 
Madam  Knight's  diary,  and  one  that  best 
illustrates  the  crudity  of  the  life  of  the  time 
and  place,  as  well  as  her  own  native  wit,  is 
the  account  of  her  experience  at  "  Haven's 
Tavern  in  the  Narragansett  Country," 
where,  having  retired  to  her  room,  which 
was  parted  from  the  kitchen  by  a  single 
board  partition,  and  "  to  a  bed  which  tho 
pretty  hard,  was  yet  neet  and  handsome," 
she  finds  herself  unable  to  sleep  because 
of  a  dispute  of  some  topers  in  the  next 
room  over  the  signification  of  the  name  of 
their  country,  Narragansett : 

"One  said  it  was  named  so  by  ye  Indians,  because 
there  grew  a  Brier  there,  of  a  prodigious  Highth  and 
bigness,  the  like   hardly  ever  known,  called   by  the 
4 


38  COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

Indians  Narragansett ;  And  quotes  an  Indian  of  so 
Barbarous  a  name  for  his  Author,  that  I  could  not 
write  it.  His  Antagonist  Replyed  no — It  was  from  a 
Spring  it  had  its  name,  wch  hee  well  knew  where  it  was, 
which  was  extreem  cold  in  summer,  and  as  Hott  as 
could  be  imagined  in  the  winter,  which  was  much 
resorted  too  by  the  natives,  and  by  them  called  Narra 
gansett,  (Hott  and  Cold,)  and  that  was  the  originall  of 
their  places  name — with  a  thousand  Impertinances  not 
worth  notice,  wch  He  utter'd  with  such  a  Roreing  voice 
and  Thundering  blows  with  the  fist  of  wickedness  on 
the  Table,  that  it  peirced  my  very  head.  I  heartily 
fretted,  and  wish't  'um  tongue  tyed ;  but  with  as  little 
succes  as  a  freind  of  mine  once,  who  was  (as  shee  said) 
kept  a  whole  night  awake,  on  a  Jorny,  by  a  country 
Left,  and  a  Sergent,  Insigne  and  a  Deacon,  contriving 
how  to  bring  a  triangle  into  a  Square.  They  kept  call 
ing  for  tother  Gill,  wch  while  they  were  swallowing, 
was  some  Intermission." 

This  draught  having  had  the  effect  of 
augmenting  the  turmoil,  or,  as -she  says, 
"  like  Oyle  to  fire,"  increasing  the  flame, 
the  philosophical  traveller  set  her  candle 
upon  a  chest  and  in  the  following  lines 
endeavored  to  turn  the  roisterers'  own 
weapons  against  them : 

"  I  ask  thy  Aid,  O  Potent  Rum ! 
To  charm  these  wrangling  Topers  Dum. 
Thou  hast  their  Giddy  Brains  possest — 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  39 

The  man  confounded  \v^  the  Beast — 
And  I,  poor  I,  can  get  no  rest. 
Intoxicate  them  with  thy  fumes: 
O  still  their  Tongues  till  morning  comes. 

"  And  I  know  not  but  my  wishes  took  effect ;  for  the 
dispute  soon  ended  wth  tother  Dram;  and  so  Good 
night !" 

It  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  this  heroic 
if"  fearfull  female  traiveller"  finally  reached 
her  destination,  New  York,  where  she  was 
received  by  Mr.  Thomas  Burroughs,  a 
prominent  merchant  of  that  place,  who  aided 
her  in  attending  to  thebusiness  for  which  she 
had  made  this  perilous  journey,  and  after 
wards  entertained  her  with  such  pleasing 
diversions  as  a  ride  to  witness  the  sleighing 
between  New  York  and  the  Bowery,*  fol 
lowed  by  "  a  handsome  Entertainment  of 
five  or  six  dishes  and  choice  Beer  and 
metheglin  Cyder,"  at  the  house  of  Madam 
Dowes,  a  gentlewoman  who  lived  at  a  farm, 

*  A  small  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Harlem  River, 
which  was  a  favorite  resort  of  riding  and  sleighing 
parties  of  the  time.  The  name  Bowery  was  evidently 
derived  from  Governor  Stuyvesant's  bouwery,  or  farm, 
near  by. — Valentine's  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 


4O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

in  the  neighborhood.  Of  the  sleighing 
Madam  Knight  says,  "  I  believe  we  mett 
50  or  60  slays  that  day — they  fly  with  great 
swiftness  and  some  are  so  furious  that 
they'll  turn  out  of  the  path  for  none  except 
a  London  Cart." 

Mr.  Burroughs  also  took  Madam  Knight 
to  a  "Vendue,"  where  she  met  with  a 
great  bargain  in  paper,  and  became  ac 
quainted  with  a  number  of  persons,  who 
invited  her  to  their  houses  and  generously 
entertained  her.  It  was  upon  this  journey 
that  she  met  Madam  Livingston,  wife  of 

o 

Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Livingston,  whose 
second  wife  was  to  be  Mrs.  Knight's  own 
and  only  daughter,  Elizabeth,  at  this  time 
a  girl  of  seventeen.  Her  impressions 
Madam  Knight  records,  in  a  general  way, 
as  follows  :  "  New  York  is  a  pleasant,  well 
compacted  place,  situated  on  a  commodious 
river  which  is  a  fine  harbor  for  shipping, 
the  Buildings,  Brick  Generaly,  very  stately 
and  high,  though  not  altogether  like  ours 
in  Boston.  .  .  ." 

"  They  have  Vendues  very  frequently  and  make  their 
earnings  very  well  by  them,  for  they  treat  with  good 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  4! 

Liquor  Liberally,  and  the  Customers  Drink  as  Liberally 
and  Generally  pay  for  't  as  well,  by  paying  for  that 
which  they  Bidd  up  Briskly  for,  after  the  sack  has  gone 
plentifully  about,  tho'  sometimes  good  penny  worths 
are  got  there." 

Surely  this  good  dame  was  not  lacking 
in  shrewdness,  which,  with  her  forcible  use 
of  the  English  tongue,  even  if  in  writing  it 
she  was  sometimes  guilty  of  such  trifling 
errors  as  the  misplacing  of  vowels  and 
consonants,  rendered  her  worthy  of  being 
the  early  preceptress  of  such  distinguished 
men  as  Dr.  Samuel  Mather  and  Dr.  Frank 
lin,  who  both  attended  her  Dame's  school 
established  in  Boston  after  her  return  from 
this  journey  to  New  York.  In  another 
part  of  her  journal  she  says  of  the  New 
Yorkers,  "  Nor  do  they  spare  for  any 
diversion  the  place  affords,  and  sociable  to 
a  degree,  they'r  Tables  being  as  free  to 
their  Naybours  as  to  themselves." 

"  The  English  go  very  fasheonable  in  their  dress. 
The  Dutch,  especially  the  middling  sort,  differ  from 
our  women,  in  their  habitt  go  loose,  were  French 
muches  wch  are  like  a  Capp  and  a  head  band  in  one, 
leaving  their  ears  bare,  which  are  sett  out  wth  Jewells 
of  a  large  size  and  many  in  number.  And  their  fingers 


42  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

hoop't  with  Rings,  some  with  large  stones  in  them  of 
many  Coullers  as  were  their  pendants  in  their  ears, 
which  You  should  see  very  old  women  wear  as  well  as 
Young." 

Such  were  the  life,  customs,  and  dress 
of  the  mixed  population  of  Dutch  and 
English  in  New  York  in  1704,  and  we 
find  equally  strong  contrasts  occurring, 
a  little  later  in  Philadelphia,  between  the 
Quakers  and  the  world's  people.  If  the 
former  appeared  in  sober  attire,  the  gayer 
descendants  of  the  early  settlers  arrayed 
themselves  in  long  red  cloaks,  in  an  exag 
gerated  style  of  dress  called  "  trollopes," 
very  objectionable  to  quiet  folk,  in  hoops 
so  large  that  the  wearer  was  obliged  to 
enter  a  door  crab-like,  "  pointing  her  ob 
truding  flanks  end  foremost,"  high-heeled 
shoes  and  stiff  stays,  which  seem  to  have 
been  worn  by  both  sexes,  as  were  the  large 
curled  wigs  of  the  period.  The  very  boys 
wore  wigs,  says  Watson,  and  their  dress  in 
general  resembled  that  of  the  men,  which 
was  quite  as  absurd  in  its  way  as  the 
women's,  including  coat-skirts  lined  and 
stiffened  with  buckram,  or  set  out  with 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  43 

wadding  like  a  coverlet,  and  sleeves  with 
cuffs  reaching  to  the  elbows,  with  lead  in 
them  to  keep  them  down. 

What  would  Nathaniel  Ward  have  had 
to  say  to  men  who  thus  bedecked  their 
persons  ?  He  had  already  declared  him 
self  with  regard  to  "  women  who  lived  to 
ape  the  latest  fashion"  in  no  measured 
terms,  denominating  the  five  or  six  such 
in  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  as  "  the 
very  gizzard  of  a  trifle,  the  product  of  a 
quarter  of  a  cipher,  the  epitome  of  noth 
ing,"  to  which  he  added,  "  It  is  no  mar 
vel  they  wear  trails  on  the  hinder  part  of 
their  heads,  having  nothing  it  seems  in 
the  forepart  but  a  few  squirrels'  brains 
to  help  them  frisk  from  one  ill  favored 
fashion  to  another."  The  fashions  of 
both  men  and  women,  cited  by  Watson, 
were  doubtless  somewhat  exaggerated  in 
the  transmission  from  one  generation  to 
another,  and  in  a  short  time  "  long  red 
cloak"  and  "  trollopes"  had  to  give  way 
before  offensive  caricatures  aimed  at  them, 
a  female  felon  being  led  to  the  gallows  in 
the  former,  while  the  wife  of  Daniel  Petti- 


44  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

teau,  the  hangman,  paraded  the  town  in 
the  latter.* 

A  curious  notice  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  shows  that  certain  feminine  adorn 
ments,  and  even  one  of  the  much-derided 
red  cloaks,  had  found  their  way  into  a 
household  of  such  simplicity  as  the  Frank 
lins'  as  early  as  1750. 

"  Whereas  on  Saturday  night  last,  the  house  of  Ben 
jamin  Franklin,  of  this  city,  printer,  was  broken  open, 
and  the  following  things  feloniously  taken  away,  viz.  a 
double  necklace  of  gold  beads,  a  woman's  long  scarlet 
cloak,  almost  new,  with  a  double  cape,  a  woman's 
gown,  of  printed  cotton,  of  the  sort  called  brocade 
print,  very  remarkable,  the  ground  dark,  with  large 
red  roses,  and  other  large  and  yellow  flowers,  with  blue 
in  some  of  the  flowers,  with  many  green  leaves ;  a  pair 
of  woman's  stays,  covered  with  white  tabby  before,  and 
dove-colour'd  tabby  behind,  with  two  large  steel  hooks, 
and  sundry  other  goods.  Whoever  discovers  the  thief, 
or  thieves,  either  in  this  or  any  of  the  neighbouring 
provinces,  so  that  they  may  be  brought  to  justice,  shall 
receive  Ten  Pounds  reward ;  and  for  recovering  any 
of  the  goods,  a  reward  in  proportion  to  their  value, 
paid  by  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN." 

It  is  evident  that  there  was  enough 
worldliness  abroad  in  Philadelphia  to  lead 

*  Watson's  Annals,  vol.  i.  p.  184. 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  45 

prominent  Quakers  to  issue  such  letters  as 
that  of  the  Women  Friends  of  Burlington 
and  of  Thomas  Chalkley,  especially  as  a 
traveller  of  veracity  has  assured  us  that 
young  Quakeresses  were  fond  of  ribbons 
and  other  gayeties  in  attire. 

Watson--found  so  many  diversions  to 
record  that  he  devotes  a  separate  chapter  to 
"  Sports  and  Amusements,"  in  which  he 
tells  of  the  "  High  Dutch"  skating  of  Dr. 
Foulke,  the  celebrated  surgeon,  and  of  "  Ox 
Roasts"  on  the  thick-ribbed  ice  of  the  Dela 
ware  River,  in  the  presence  of  numerous 
skaters,  the  skaters  of  Philadelphia  being 
pre-eminent. 

Mrs.  Ball  advertised  her  school  for 
teaching  French,  playing  on  the  spinet,  and 
dancing,  in  Letitia  Court,  about  1730;  and 
a  few  years  later,  when,  in  consequence  of 
the  religious  fervor  excited  by  the  preach 
ing  of  Whitefield,  dancing-schools,  concert- 
rooms,  and  play-houses  were  closed,  there 
was  strong  opposition  to  such  stringent 
measures  from  a  certain  portion  of  the 
community,  some  of  the  gentlemen  even 
breaking  open  the  doors.  The  famous 


46  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Dancing  Assembly,  whose  lists  run  down 
to  our  own  day,  was  established  in  1749. 
Places  in  the  dance  were  arranged  by  lot, 
and  partners  were  engaged  for  the  evening, 
"  leaving  nothing,"  says  the  astute  chroni 
cler,  "  to  the  success  of  forwardness  or 
favouritism.  Gentlemen  always  drank  tea 
with  their  partners  the  day  after  the  assem 
bly, — a  sure  means  of  producing  a  more 
lasting  acquaintance,  if  desirable."  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  pretty  Quakeresses  were 
sometimes  allowed  to  participate  in  the 
milder  festivity  of  such  tea-drinkings,  even 
if  the  more  exciting  pleasures  of  the  dance 
were  denied  them. 

If  gayeties  and  luxuries  rapidly  increased 
in  Pennsylvania,  it  is  gratifying  to  know 
that  churches,  meeting-houses,  and  schools 
kept  pace  with  the  one,  and  that  the  com 
merce  and  manufactures  of  a  largely  in 
dustrial  population  balanced  and  contrib 
uted  to  the  demands  of  the  other. 

The  first  school  in  Philadelphia,  opened 
by  Enoch  Flower  in  1683,  was  soon  fol 
lowed  by  a  grammar-school,  established 
by  Samuel  Carpenter  and  other  leading 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  47 

Friends.  Over  this  school,  in  which  the 
"  learned  languages  were  taught,"  pre 
sided  George  Keith,  a  Scotch  Friend,  who 
later  joined  the  English  Church  and  be 
came  a  grievous  "  thorn  in  the  flesh"  of 
good  Quakers.  Keith  was  assisted  in  his 
teaching  by  Thomas  Makin,  who  occa 
sionally  indulged  in  flights  of  poetry ;  but, 
finding  pedagogy  more  popularthan  poetry, 
he  finally  became  principal  of  the  grammar- 
school  in  Keith's  place,  and  carried  it  on 
with  fair  success.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
the  small  and  now  almost  unknown  sea 
board  town  of  Lewes  boasted  so  superior 
a  school  for  girls  that  Governor  Lloyd 
sent  his  daughters  there  to  complete  their 
education,  while  to  a  little  settlement  in 
Bucks  County  belongs  the  honor  of  open 
ing  the  first  institution  for  collegiate  in 
struction  in  the  Middle  Colonies.  The 
Log  College,  founded  by  the  Rev.  William 
Tennent  in  1726,  in  which  undertaking  he 
was  greatly  assisted  by  his  cousin  James 
Logan,  became  the  alma  mater  of  such 
distinguished  divines  as  William  Tennent 
the  younger,  Samuel  Finley,  the  Blairs, 


48     COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

Charles  Beatty,  and  William  Robinson, 
besides  claiming  the  distinction  of  being  the 
corner-stone  of  Princeton  College,  estab 
lished  more  than  twenty  years  later. 

An  anecdote  is  told  of  the  Rev.  Charles 
Beatty,  an  early  graduate  of  the  Log  Col 
lege,  by  Dr.  Franklin,  which  admirably 
illustrates  the  ready  mother- wit  of  the 
latter. 

Dr.  Beatty  was  acting  as  chaplain  to 
an  army  of  five  hundred  men  led  by 
Franklin  to  defend  the  frontier  against 
the  French  and  Indians  after  the  burning 
of  the  Moravian  mission  at  Gnadenhiitten, 
Pennsylvania. 

"  Dr.  Beatty  complained  to  me,"  says  Franklin, "  that 
the  men  did  not  generally  attend  his  prayers  and  exhor 
tations.  When  they  were  enlisted,  they  were  promised, 
besides  hay  and  provisions,  a  gill  of  rum  a  day,  which 
was  punctually  served  out  to  them,  half  in  the  morning, 
and  the  other  half  in  the  evening ;  and  I  observed 
they  were  as  punctual  in  attending  to  receive  it ;  upon 
which  I  said  to  Mr.  Beatty,  '  It  is  perhaps  below  the 
dignity  of  your  profession  to  act  as  steward  of  the 
rum,  but  if  you  were  to  deal  it  out,  and  only  just  after 
prayers,  you  would  have  them  all  about  you.'  " 

The  shrewd  suggestion  was  adopted  by 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  49 

Dr.  Beatty,  and  the  philosophic  Franklin 
adds, — 

"  Never  were  prayers  more  generally  and  more 
punctually  attended ;  so  that  I  thought  this  method 
preferable  to  the  punishment  inflicted  by  some  military 
laws  for  non-attendance  on  divine  service." 

The  fact  that  a  Presbyterian  minister 
would,  under  any  circumstances,  consent 
to  measure  out  rum  to  his  flock  suggests 
a  curious  contrast  between  customs  past 
and  present;  but,  as  each  man  received 
but  half  a  gill  at  a  time,  the  reverend 
gentleman  may  have  considered  that,  in 
a  certain  sense,  he  was  assisting  in  a 
temperance  movement. 

Thackeray  has  admirably  hit  off  Dr. 
Franklin's  readiness  to  advise  upon  all 
subjects  in  his  picture  of  a  dinner  at 
Madam  Esmond's,  before  the  Braddock 
expedition,  when  General  Braddock  con 
stantly  turns  to  the  "  little  Postmaster  from 
Philadelphia"  who  seemed  to  possess  much 
curious  information  and  to  have  counsel  to 
offer  in  all  emergencies.  Nothing  seemed 
to  be  too  great  or  too  small  for  Franklin's 
c  d  5 


5O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

consideration.  While  abroad  upon  diplo 
matic  business,  he  writes  his  wife  minute 
directions  about  making  and  putting  down 
the  carpets  which  he  sends  her ;  yet  Mrs. 
Franklin  was  herself  a  notable  house 
keeper. 

In  a  letter  written  to  her  husband  in 
1765,  she  speaks  of  papered  walls  in  their 
new  house  in  Franklin  Court,  while  the 
Fair  Hill  mansion  boasted  paper  as  early 
as  1717,  although  the  parlors  were  wains 
coted  in  oak  and  red  cedar.  Several  car 
pets  Mrs.  Franklin  mentions  as  those  in  the 
blue  room,  the  parlor,  and  other  rooms, 
and  even  expresses  a  desire  to  have  a 
Turkey  carpet,  which  sounds  strangely 
luxurious  and  modern  to  our  ears,  espe 
cially  as  the  first  carpet  remembered  in 
Philadelphia  was  seen  at  the  house  of 
Owen  Jones,  at  Second  and  Spruce  Streets, 
about  1750.  These  early  carpets  were  not 
very  ample,  being  designed  for  the  centre 
of  the  room,  the  chairs  being  set  around 
the  edges  of  the  square,  the  middle  of 
which  was  occupied  by  the  table.  Mrs. 
Franklin  also  mentions  such  luxuries  as 


COLONIAL    DAYS. 


51 

a  closet  with  glass  doors,  spaces  for  the 
"  pier  of  glass,"  a  harpsichord  and  harmon 
ica;  while  Sally's  room,  up  two  pairs  of 
stairs,  beside  its  regular  furniture,  con 
tained  a  trunk  and  books  which  seem  to 
be  quite  beyond  her  powers  of  description, 
as  she  adds,  "  but  these  you  can't  have  any 
notion  of."  Dr.  Franklin,  in  one  of  his 
earlier  letters,  speaks  of  such  fancyings  of 
his  own  as  a  "  pair  of  silk  blankets,  very 
fine,  just  taken  in  a  French  prize,"  which 
he  thinks  would  be  best  to  cover  a  summer 
bed,  some  fine  damask  table-cloths  and 
napkins,  snuffer-stand  and  extinguisher  of 
very  beautiful  workmanship,  and  some  car 
peting  "  which  is  to  be  sewed  together  in 
such  a  way  as  would  make  the  figures 
match,  and  to  be  finished  with  a  border." 

Carpets  instead  of  sanded  floors  and 
wall-paper  in  the  place  of  the  primitive 
whitewash  were  finding  their  way  into 
modest  households,  while  much  greater 
luxuries  were  to  be  seen  in  such  resi 
dences  as  those  of  the  Hamiltons,  Aliens, 
Fishers,  Morrises,  Jameses,  and  Willings; 
and,  instead  of  the  one  maid-servant  that 


52  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Gabriel  Thomas  speaks  of  in  1696  as 
among  the  comforts  of  the  early  settle 
ment,  numbers  of  servants  were  to  be 
found  in  many  households,  some  of  them 
slaves.  The  "  slaves'  gallery"  is  still  to 
be  seen  in  old  Christ  Church  in  Boston, 
and  in  Quaker  Philadelphia  some  good 
citizens  owned  slaves,  and  thought  it  no 
harm  to  will  a  likely  African  or  a  neat- 
handed  yellow  girl  to  their  children,  as 
they  left  them  their  household  furniture, 
horses,  and  carriages.  The  days  had 
passed  by,  in  1760,  when  the  carriages 
and  chariots  driven  in  this  city  could  be 
told  off  on  the  fingers  of  two  hands,  as 
in  Mrs.  Mcllvaine's  lines : 

"  Judge  Allen  drove  a  coach  and  four 

Of  handsome  dappled  grays, 
Shippens,  Penns,  Pembertons,  and  Morrises, 
Powels,  Cadwaladers,  and  Norrises 

Drove  only  pairs  of  blacks  and  bays." 

Du  Simitiere  enumerates  the  carriages 
driven  in  Philadelphia  in  1772  as  number 
ing  nearly  one  hundred,  although  William 
Peters  and  Thomas  Willing  could  long 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  53 

claim  the  distinction  of  driving  the  only 
landaus  in  old  Philadelphia. 

The  time  was  long  past,  even  in  New 
England,  when  the  iron  hand  of  law  or 
the  voice  of  admonition  could  keep  back 
the  tide  of  progress  in  religious  toleration 
or  in  the  gentler  arts  of  life.  If,  in  early 
days  in  Plymouth,  the  settlers  walked  to 
the  meeting,  the  governor  and  elders  at 
their  head,  the  men  armed  and  equipped 
as  for  battle,  the  women,  children,  and 
servants  well  guarded  from  attack,  the  day 
came  before  the  century  was  out  when  the 
governor  rolled  to  the  place  of  worship  in 
his  coach.  In  1695,  Judge  Sewall  writes 
that  he  prevailed  upon  "  Governor  Brad- 
street  and  his  Lady"  *  to  walk  to  his  new 
house  and  wish  him  joy  of  it,  "  after  which 
they  sat  near  an  hour  with  Mrs.  Corwin  and 
Wharton,  and  the  Governor  drank  a  glass 
or  two  of  wine,  eat  some  fruit,  and  took  a 
pipe  of  tobacco  in  the  new  Hall,  and  finally 
went  away  between  twelve  and  one  in 
Madame  Richard's  new  Coach  and  horses." 

*  Simon  Bradstreet's  second  wife,  Mistress  Gardner. 
His  first  wife,  Anne,  the  poetess,  died  in  1672. 
5* 


54  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Joseph  Bennett,  coming  to  New  England 
somewhat  later,  writes,  "  There  are  several 
Familys  in  Boston  that  keep  a  Coach  and 
pair  of  Horses,  and  some  few  drive  with  4 
horses  ;  but  for  Chaises  and  Saddle  Horses, 
considering  the  bulk  of  the  place  [they] 
out  do  London.  When  the  Ladies  ride 
out  to  take  the  Air  it  is  generally  in  a 
Chaise  or  Chair ;  tho'  but  a  single  Horse'd 
one  and  they  have  a  Negro  servant  to  drive 
'em." 

The  dancing  of  Morton  and  his  followers 
at  Merry  Mount  was  promptly  stopped  and 
their  scandalous  May-pole  cut  down;  yet 
there  were  others  in  New  England  who 
danced  before  the  next  century  was  old,  as 
we  find  that  Charles  Bradstreet  in  1739 
was  permitted  by  the  selectmen  of  the 
town  of  Salem  to  "  teach  dancing"  in  con 
nection  with  French,  "  so  long  as  he  keeps 
good  order,"  while  a  little  later  Lawrence 
D'Obleville,  a  native  of  Paris  and  a  Prot 
estant,  was  employed  in  Salem  and  other 
towns  "teaching  children  and  youth  to 
dance  and  good  manners." 

Althouo-h    Governor    Endicott  cut   the 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  55 

cross  out  of  the  English  flag  because,  to 
his  mind,  it  savored  of  popery,  it  was  re 
stored  to  its  place,  and  we  find  Samuel 
Sewall,  fifty  years  later,  still  in  doubt 
about  this  emblem  in  the  colors,  wondering 
whether  it  might  not  hinder  his  "  Entrance 
into  the  Holy  Land."  Still  greater  and 
more  grievous  changes  was  he  to  behold 
whom  Mr.  Lodge  signalizes  as  the  "  Last 
of  the  Puritans,"  when,  under  Governor 
Andros,  the  service  of  the  English  Church 
was  permitted  in  Boston,  and  was  heard 
within  the  walls  of  the  venerated  Old 
South.  With  the  admission  of  the  Eng 
lish  Church,  which  meant  an  outward 
toleration  for  other  religious  bodies,  there 
came  into  the  very  strongholds  of  Puritan 
ism  a  wider  liberty  in  manners,  customs, 
and  habits  of  life. 

Tradition  tells  of  a  spirited  Colonial 
lady,  wife  of  a  squire  in  Hadley,  Massa 
chusetts,  who  was  formally  excommuni 
cated  by  the  parson  and  elders  of  the 
meeting  for  the  sin  of  being  present  at  the 
Christmas  celebration  of  two  poor  Ger 
mans  living  upon  her  husband's  estate. 


56  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Slowly  and  steadily,  however,  the  new  wine 
was  working  in  the  old  bottles,  and  al 
though  Samuel  Sewall  records  with  satis 
faction,  as  late  as  Christmas,  1697,  "  Shops 
are  open  and  Carts  and  Sleds  come  to 
Town  with  Wood  and  Fagots  as  formerly, 
save  what  abatement  may  be  allowed  on 
account  of  the  wether,"  he  is  forced  to  con 
clude  his  characteristic  entry  with  the  dis 
couraging  statement  that  Joseph,  his  son, 
told  him  that  "  most  of  the  Boys  went  to 
the  Church,"  adding,  "  yet  he  went  not." 
The  old  barriers  were  giving  way,  new  cus 
toms  and  observances  were  coming  in.  In 
Puritan  New  England,  as  well  as  in  Quaker 
Pennsylvania,  the  joyous  holiday  of  Chris 
tian  hope  was  being  kept.  In  New  Amster 
dam  the  New-Year  festival  was  a  period  of 
greater  rejoicing,  but  in  Virginia  and  the 
Southern  Colonies  an  old-time  English 
Christmas,  with  yule-log,  mistletoe  bough, 
and  church  services,  early  marked  the  sea 
son.  In  Pennsylvania  there  were  many  who 
held  aloof  from  the  observance  of  the  day, 
but  with  less  severity  than  the  Puritan,  the 
Quaker's  inward  light  being  apparently  in- 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  57 

tended  more  for  his  own  guidance  than 
for  that  of  his  neighbor,  and  Watson  speaks 
of  May-Day  and  Christmas  celebrations  in 
Philadelphia  as  of  long-established  usage. 
Of  the  latter  he  records, — 

"  The  '  Belsh  NicheF  and  St.  Nicholas  has  been  a 
time  of  Christmas  amusement  from  time  immemorial 
among  us;  brought  in,  it  is  supposed,  among  the 
sportive  frolics  of  the  Germans.  It  is  the  same  also 
observed  in  New  York,  under  the  Dutch  name  of  St. 
Claes.  'Belsh  Nichel,'  in  high  German,  expresses 
'  Nicholas  in  his  fur'  or  sheep-skin  clothing.  He  is 
always  supposed  to  bring  good  things  at  night  to  good 
children,  and  a  rod  for  those  who  are  bad." 

The  first  signs  of  Christmas-keeping  in 
New  England  seem  to  picture  the  dawn  of 
a  brighter  day  for  the  Puritan  child,  whose 
natural  and  spontaneous  development  must 
have  been  sadly  checked  and  hampered  by 
the  straitness  of  the  life  surrounding  it,  even 
in  homes  where  there  was  full  and  plenty, 
by  the  dismal  Sabbaths  which  weighed 
heavily  upon  the  exuberant  energy  of  the 
healthy  young  creature,  with  their  sermons 
of  such  length  that  Nathaniel  Ward  him 
self  confesses,  "  we  have  a  strong  weakness 


58  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

in  New  England  that  when  we  are  speak 
ing,  we  know  not  how  to  conclude,  we  make 
many  ends  before  we  make  an  end." 

In  letters  and  diaries  of  the  time  we  find 
small  mention  of  the  children,  except  to 
record  their  birth  and  death,  or,  perchance, 
to  note  when  they  had  the  small-pox,  or 
when  they  were  inoculated  to  prevent  their 
having  it,  as  when  Judge  Lynde  writes, — 

"  Daughter  Lydia  went  to  Boston,  and  was  inocu 
lated  by  Dr.  Charles  Pynchon;  thro'  God's  goodness 
had  it  so  favourably  as  every  day  to  be  about,  and  in 
14  days  went  out  visiting,  and  on  5th  May  returned 
well  to  Salem,  Laus  Deo  !" 

Sometimes  an  entry  records  the  number 
of  olive-branches  upon  the  family  vine, 
with  a  certain  pride  of  possession,  or  tells 
of  some  spiritual  experience  marking  the 
turning  of  the  page  from  childhood  to 
manhood  or  womanhood.  Scant  space  was 
found  in  those  days  to  dwell  upon  childish 
joys,  and  when  sorrows  are  mentioned  they 
seem  strangely  akin  to  those  of  the  grown 
folks,  as  when  little  Anne  Dudley,  at  six  or 
seven,  relates  her  grief,  not  over  a  fractured 
doll  or  toy,  but  because  of  her  "neglect  of 


COLONIAL    DAYS.  59 

Private  Duteys"  in  which  she  is  too  often 
tardy;    while   at    sixteen,  finding    herself 
"  carnall  and  sitting  loose  from  God,"  she 
accepts  the  small-pox  that  then  "  smott" 
her  as  a  "proper  rebuke  to  her  pride  and 
vanity."  Reared  in  such  an  atmosphere  of 
morbid  conscientiousness  and  theological 
disputation,    the   children    in    the    streets 
caught  the  current    phrases,  and   during 
the  Hutchinson  trial  jeered  one  another 
as  believers  in  the  "  Covenant  of  Grace" 
or    in    the    "  Covenant    of  Works."     We 
can  only  hope  that  certain   pleasures  in 
separable    from    country    living   belonged 
to  the  children  of  New  England.     Even 
the    larger  towns  were   but  small  settle 
ments     in     those     days,     surrounded    by- 
forests    or  bounded    on    one   side  or  the 
other  by  the  sea.     Hence  we  may  believe 
that  the  boys  spent  their  recreation  hours 
in  the  woods  or  by  the  water,  and  that  the 
girls  were  sometimes  permitted  to  leave 
their  tasks  and  stretch  their  limbs  by  en 
tering  into  their  brothers'  sports, — fishing, 
boating,  nutting  in  the  autumn  woods,  and, 
rare  diversion  of  the  New  England  winter, 


6O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

coasting  down  the  long  hills  and  skating 
upon  the  ponds ! 

Such  pleasures  being  theirs,  we  may 
still  rejoice  that  for  Puritan  children  was 
coming,  surely  if  slowly,  the  joy  of  the 
child's  festival;  and  that  all  along  the 
coast,  from  the  scant  observance  in  New 
England  to  the  generous  English  celebra 
tion  of  the  day  in  the  Southern  Colonies, 
the  high  festival  of  the  Christian  year  was 
to  bring  expectancy,  good  cheer,  well-filled 
stockings,  gifts  and  greetings  to  the  chil 
dren  who  were  destined  to  be  the  mothers 
and  fathers  of  a  great  nation. 


WOMEN  IN  THE  EARLY  SETTLE 
MENT. 

RUMORS  have  come  to  our  ears  of  a 
toast  to  the  Puritan  Mothers,  from  those 
of  their  sons  who  meet  together  in  the 
New  England  Society,  to  pour  out  liba 
tions,  burn  incense,  and  consume  canvas- 
back  and  terrapin  in  honor  of  their  ances 
tors,  the  especial  claim  of  these  worthy 
dames  upon  the  consideration  of  the  present 
generation  being  based  upon  the  fact  that, 
in  addition  to  enduring  all  the  hardships 
that  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Puritan  Fathers, 
they  had  to  endure  the  Puritan  Father 
himself.  However  this  may  have  been, 
and  we  doubt  not,  with  all  due  respect  to 
6  61 


62  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

their  sterling  qualities,  that  some  of  these 
progenitors  of  ours  were,  like  Carlyle, 
"  gey  iU  to  nve  wi'>"  it  seems  as  if  the 
courage,  patience,  and  heroism  of  the 
pioneer  women  of  America  had  not  been 
sufficiently  honored. 

Heroic  and  much-enduring  women  we 
naturally  think  of  in  connection  with  the 
Revolutionary  struggle,  but  of  such  there 
were  not  a  few  in  the  early  settlement  of 
the  country,  whether  upon  the  bleak  hill 
sides  of  New  England,  where  the  winters 
were  more  severe  and  the  soil  less  produc 
tive  than  farther  south,  or  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware,  or  still 
farther  south  along  the  Chesapeake  and  the 
James.  A  vision  of  the  pioneer  women 
of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  led  by  the 
girlish  figures  of  Mary  Chilton  and  Pris- 
cilla  Mullins,  inevitably  rises  before  the 
retrospective  student,  because  a  certain 
halo  of  romance  has  ever  encircled  these 
two  picturesque  personalities. 

Others  there  were,  equally  lovely  and 
quite  as  picturesque,  whom  the  pens  of  the 
romance  writer  and  the  poet  have  as  yet 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       63 

failed   to   touch.      In  the   immigration  to 
Salem  in  1630  there  came,  in  a  vessel  that 
bore  her  name,  the  Lady  Arbella  Johnson, 
daughter  of  the  third  Earl  of  Lincoln,  in 
company    with    her    husband,    her    sister 
Susan,  wife  of  John  Humphrey,  the  Dud 
leys,    Simon   Bradstreet  and    his    "  verse- 
making   wife,"   the  two  daughters  of  Sir 
Robert   Saltonstall,  and    other   ladies    of 
high    degree   who    dined   with    the   Lady 
Arbella  in  the  "  great  cabin."     Delicately 
nurtured  and   frail   of  constitution,   Lady 
Arbella    had   been    urged    to    remain   in 
England   for  a  time,  but   rather  than   be 
separated    from    her    husband    she    was 
willing   to    brave   the   perils  of  the   long 
voyage  and   the  hardships  of  pioneer  life 
in  a  strange  land.     She  lived  only  to  be 
hold  the  shores  of  the  new  world  clad  in 
spring  beauty,  before  closing  her  eyes  for 
ever  to  earthly  visions,  or,  as  Mr.  Cotton 
Mather   wrote   years   after,   she    "left   an 
earthly  paradise  in  the  family  of  an  Earl 
dom,  to  encounter  the  sorrows  of  a  wil 
derness,  for  the  entertainments  of  a  pure 
•  worship  in  the  house  of  God ;   and  then 


64  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

immediately  left  that  wilderness  for  the 
Heavenly  paradise."  Of  the  husband  of 
this  lady,  Mr.  Isaac  Johnson,  who  was  one 
of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  settle 
ment,  Mather  wrote  with  quaint  pathos, — 

"  He  try'd 
To  live  without  her,  lik'd  it  not,  and  dy'd. 

His  mourning  for  his  amiable  consort  was 
too  bitter  to  be  extended  a  year ;  about 
a  month  after  her  death  his  ensued,  unto 
the  extream  loss  of  the  whole  plantation." 
Of  how  many  more  the  same  sad  story 
could  be  told,  we  realize  when  we  learn 
that  of  the  small  company  that  landed  at 
Plymouth  fifty  died  in  two  months,  while 
the  ranks  of  the  settlers  of  Charlestown 
and  Salem  were  sadly  depleted  by  pesti 
lence  and  starvation.  The  needs  and  dis 
tress  of  the  colonists  are  plainly  revealed 
by  a  picture,  that  has  come  down  to  us,  of 
the  first  American  Thanksgiving  Day.  A 
fast  had  been  appointed,  which  it  was  not 
difficult  to  enforce,  as  the  governor's  last 
baking  of  bread  had  been  put  in  the  oven, 
and  many  of  the  settlers  were  subsist- 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       65 

ing  upon  clams,  acorns,  and  various  nuts. 
"  'Twas  marvellous,"  says  Mather,  "  to  see 
how  helpful  these  good  people  were  to  one 
another,  following  the  example  of  their 
most  liberal  governour  Winthrop,  who 
made  an  equal  distribution  of  what  he 
had  in  his  own  stores  among  the  poor, 
taking  no  thought  of  to-morrow."  It  is 
related  that  he  was  generously  giving 
from  his  own  scant  supply  a  handful  of 
meal  to  a  poor  man  distressed  by  the  wolf 
at  the  door,  when  a  ship  was  seen  in  the 
harbor  bearing  provisions  for  all.  The  fast 
day  was  speedily  turned  into  a  season  of 
rejoicing,  and  the  first  formal  proclamation 
was  issued  for  Thanksgiving  Day  by  Gov 
ernor  Winthrop,  who,  in  the  face  of  all 
discouragements,  stoutly  maintained  that 
if  it  were  all  to  be  done  over  again  he 
would  do  no  differently. 

The  "  contented  mind"  of  the  old  adage 
must  have  often  provided  those  good  peo 
ple  with  a  "  continual  feast,"  when  there 
was  little  else  to  serve,  and  we  cannot  but 
admire  the  thankful  spirit  of  a  certain 
"  honest  man  who  invited  his  friends  to  a 
e  6* 


66  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

dish  of  clams,  and  at  table  offered  up 
fervent  thanks  to  Heaven  who  had  given 
them  to  suck  the  abundance  of  the  seas, 
and  of  the  treasures  hid  in  the  sands." 

Although  there  was  less  suffering  from 
cold  and  hunger  and  far  less  mortality  in 
the  Provinces  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey  than  in  Massachusetts,  there  were 
many  hardships  and  discomforts  in  settle 
ments  where  few  houses  had  been  erected 
in  advance.  Many  of  the  immigrants 
dwelt  in  caves  along  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware,  then  a  high,  bold  shore  called 
Coaquannock.  "  These  caves,"  says  Wat 
son,  "  were  generally  formed  by  digging 
into  the  ground,  near  the  verge  of  the 
river-front  bank,  about  three  feet  in 
depth ;  thus  making  half  their  chamber 
under  ground ;  and  the  remaining  half 
above  ground  was  formed  of  sods  of  earth 
or  earth  and  brush  combined.  The  roofs 
were  formed  of  layers  of  limbs,  or  split 
pieces  of  trees,  over-laid  with  sod  or  bark, 
river  rushes,  etc.  The  chimneys  were 
of  stones  and  river  pebbles,  mortared 
together  with  clay  and  grass,  or  river 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY   SETTLEMENT.       6/ 

reeds."     This  description  answers  to  that 
of   some    of   the   Indian    dwellings    suffi 
ciently  to  suggest  that  the  friendly  natives 
may   have    lent    their    new   neighbors   a 
hand  in  the  preparation  of  these  tempo 
rary  abodes.     The  Owens'  cave  was  on  a 
shelving  bank  on  the  south  side  of  Spruce 
Street  west  of  Second,  afterwards  Town- 
send's    Court.      The    Coateses,    Morrises, 
Guests,  and  others   dwelt  in  these  primi 
tive   habitations    until    they  were  able  to 
build  themselves  houses,  the  latter  family 
living  in  a  cave  near  the  Crooked  Billet 
wharf,  so  named  from  an  old  tavern  on  the 
river,  north  of  Chestnut  Street,  which  had 
a  crooked  billet  of  wood  for  its  sign.    From 
family  papers  we  learn  that  when  William 
and  Elizabeth   Hard   arrived  in   Philadel 
phia  the  latter  rejoiced  and  considered  it 
an  especial  providence  to  find  her  sister, 
Alice  Guest,  whom  she  had  not  seen  for 
years,  living  sumptuously  in  her  own  cave 
by  the  river  bank,  where  Elizabeth  and  her 
husband  were  entertained.    Of  Mrs.  Hard's 
own  share  in  the  building  of  her  home,  her 
niece,  Deborah  Morris,  thus  quaintly  tells  : 


68  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

"  All  that  came  wanted  a  Dwelling  and  hastened  to 
provide  one.     As  they  lovingly  helped  each  other,  the 
Women  even  set  themselves  to  work  that  they  had  not 
been  used  to  before  ;  for  few  of  the  first  settlers  were 
of  the   Laborous  Class,  and  help  of  that  source  was 
scarce.     My  good  Aunt  thought  it  expedient  to  help 
her  Husband  at  the  end  of  the  saw,  and  to  fetch  all 
such  Water  to  make  such  kind  of  Mortar,  as  they  then 
had  to  build  their  chimney.     At  one  time  being  over 
wearied  therewith,  her  Husband  desired  her  to  forbear, 
saying,  '  thou  had  better,  my  dear,  think  of  dinner;'  on 
which,  poor  woman,  she  walked  away,  weeping  as  she 
went,  reflecting  on  herself  for  coming  here,  to  be  ex 
posed  to  such  hardships,  and  then  knew  not  where  to 
get  a  dinner,  for  their  Provision  was  all  spent,  except  a 
small  quantity  of  Biscuit  and  Cheese,  of  which  she  had 
not  informed  her  Husband ;  but  thought  she  would  try 
which   of  her   friends    had    any  to  spare.     Thus   she 
walked  on  towards  their  tent  (happy  time  when  each 
one's  treasure  lay  safe  in  their  tents),  but  a  little  too 
desponding  in  her   mind,  for  which    she    felt   herself 
closely  reproved,  and  as  if  queried  with—'  Did  not  thou 
come  for  liberty  of  conscience, — hast  thou  not  got  it, 
also  been  provided  for  beyond  thy  expectation  ?'  which 
so  humbled  her,  she  on  her  knees  begged  forgiveness 
and  for  Preservation  in  the  near  future  and  never  Re 
pined  after. 

"  When  she  rose  from  her  knees,  and  was  going  to 
seek  for  other  food  than  what  she  had,  her  Cat  came 
into  the  Tent,  and  had  caught  a  fine  large  Rabbit, 
which  she  thankfully  received  and  dressed  as  an  Eng 
lish  hare.  When  her  Husband  came  to  dinner,  being 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       69 

informed  of  the  particulars,  they  both  wept  with 
reverential  Joy,  and  Eat  their  Meal,  which  was  thus 
seasonably  provided  for  them,  in  singleness  of  heart. 
Many  such  divinely  Providential  cares  did  they  partake 
of.  Thus  did  our  worthy  Witness  the  Arm  of  Divine 
love  extended  for  Their  Support  within  and  without, 
which  is  not  shorten'd,  his  love  and  Power  remains  the 
same  and  ever  will  to  his  depending  Children." 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  relics 
of  these  Pennsylvania  cave-dwellers  have 
been  preserved  even  to  this  century,  one  of 
the  descendants  of  Mrs.  Hard  having,  says 
Watson,  "  a  very  pretty  chair,  low  and 
small,  which  had  been  a  sitting-chair  in 
that  cave." 

Still  more  pleasing  is  it  to  learn  that  com 
fort  and  prosperity  fell  to  the  share  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hard,  and  that  when  they  and 
their  Morris  relatives  owned  family  plate, 
some  of  it  was  marked  with  an  engraved 
design  of  the  faithful  cat  bearing  in  her 
mouth  the  providential  rabbit. 

Of  John  and  Rebecca  Head,  who  arrived 
in  Philadelphia  early  in  the  last  century,  it 
is  related  that,  having  a  flock  of  little  ones 
to  convey  to  their  new  home,  and  various 
household  utensils,  and  there  being  no  con- 


7O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

veyance  in  those  days,  they  hit  upon  the 
expedient  of  putting  the  two  younger  girls 
in  a  tub,  each  of  the  parents  taking  a  han 
dle.  The  older  children,  Rebecca  and 
Mary,  aged  respectively  four  and  three 
years,  walked  in  front,  carrying  all  the 
goods  that  their  little  hands  could  hold. 
"  Thus,"  says  the  narrator,  Mr.  George 
Vaux,  a  descendant  of  one  of  these  chil 
dren,  "  our  ancestors  wended  their  way 
from  the  water's  edge  to  their  first  dwelling 
place  in  the  New  World."  l 

Within  half  a  century  the  Head  family 
became  so  prosperous  that  the  descend 
ants  of  the  little  children  who  took  their 
first  American  ride  in  a  tub  were  able  to 
drive  their  carriages,  one  of  them  being 
the  ancestress  of  Johns  Hopkins,  whose 
large  fortune  and  generous  spirit  estab 
lished  in  Baltimore  the  university  and  hos 
pital  that  bear  his  name.  Another  sister, 
Esther,  born  in  Philadelphia,  was  the  an- 

1  This  incident  was  related  by  one  of  these  children, 
Martha  Head,  to  her  grand-daughter,  Philadelphia 
Pemberton,  who  transmitted  it  to  Mr.  Vaux  through  his 
cousin,  Mary  Ann  Bacon. 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       /I 

cestress  of  the  late  George  Sharswood, 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania;  while  of  another  descend 
ant,  John  Head,  the  following  story  is  told. 
Robert  Morris,  the  financier,  was  urged  to 
apply  to  Mr.  Head  for  assistance  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Revolution,  when  the 
Continental  Congress  was  greatly  ham 
pered  for  money  to  provision  and  clothe 
the  troops.  Mr.  Head  was  known  to 
have  made  a  large  fortune  in  the  ship 
ping  business,  and,  although  he  was  a 
Quaker,  it  was  hoped  that  he  would  yield 
to  the  entreaties  of  his  friend  Mr.  Morris. 
The  latter  explained  to  the  Quaker  mer 
chant  the  necessities  of  the  case,  the 
gloomy  outlook  for  the  winter,  and  the 
importance  of  raising  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  for  immediate  use,  to  which 
Friend  Head  replied,  after  listening  with 
much  attention,  "  Thou  knowest  the  prin 
ciples  of  our  society,  and  that  I  cannot 
conscientiously  do  anything  to  promote 
and  keep  up  a  war."  Mr.  Morris  renewed 
his  entreaties,  with  such  effect  that  the 
old  gentleman  finally  sprang  up,  saying, 


72  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

"  Robert,  on  that  mantel  is  a  key,  in  that 
room  is  an  iron  chest,"  and  without  another 
word  upon  the  subject  took  up  his  hat  and 
left  the  house.     A  word  to  the  wise  was, 
in  this  instance,  sufficient,  as  Mr.  Morris 
took   up  the  key  and   opened   the  chest, 
from  which  he  took  sixty  thousand  dollars 
in  gold  and   silver,  with   which  clothing, 
shoes,  and  other  necessities  were  provided 
for  the  army.      Soon  after,  the  battle  of 
Trenton  was  fought,  and  the  affairs  of  the 
Colonies  assumed  a  brighter  aspect.     The 
narrator  adds  that  Mr.  Morris  left  treasury 
notes   to   the   amount  of  sixty   thousand 
dollars  in  place  of  the  coin,  which  notes 
were  later  redeemed  by  the  new  govern 
ment,  and  the  descendants  of  this  patriotic 
and  charitable  Quaker  are  still   enjoying 
the  money  which  he  was  willing  to   risk 
pro  bono  publico.    Somewhat  similar  stories 
are  told  of  Abel  James,  who,  like  John 
Head,  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  of  the 
old  Philadelphia  merchants,  and  of  John 
Morton. 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  these 
men  all  helped  the  Colonies  in  their  hour 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       73 

of  need,  as  they  were  men  of  large  fortune, 
and  like  many  other  Friends,  although  op 
posed  to  war  on  general  principles,  consid 
ered  the  cause  in  which  the  Revolutionary 
party  was  engaged  a  just  and  righteous 
one. 

Among  others  who  came  to  Pennsyl 
vania  to  endure  the  hardships  of  the  early 
settlement,  which  were  in  some  cases  less 
to  be  dreaded  than  the  persecution  that 
beset  them  at  home,  were  Robert  Owen 
and  his  wife,  from  Wales.  He  had  received 
a  commission  as  Captain  of  the  Militia  and 
Governor  of  Beaumaris  Castle,  and,  being 
unwilling  to  take  an  oath  at  the  time  of  the 
Restoration,  was  imprisoned  at  Dolgelly, 
Merionethshire,  for  five  years.  To  Robert 
Owen's  wife,  who  was  a  sympathizing  help 
meet  in  all  his  trials,  one  historian  pays 
the  following  high  tribute:  "  She  was  a 
woman  rarely  endowed  with  many  natural 
gifts,  and  not  given  to  many  words." 

Here  also  came  Grace  Thomas,  whose 
son  Gabriel  wrote  the  first  history  of  the 
Pennsylvania  settlement,  a  small  volume 
full  of  quaint  observations  and  valuable 


74     COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

facts,  and  whose  daughter  Rachel  was  soon 
after  her  arrival  married  to  the  first  Thomas 
Wharton,  at  the  Bank  Meeting-House  on 
the  Delaware,  where  so  many  couples  were 
united.  From  the  number  of  marriages 
early  recorded,  love-making  seems  to  have 
been  a  favorite  pastime  upon  those  long 
voyages,  which  lasted  more  weeks  than  it 
now  takes  days  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  espe 
cially  when  an  unexpected  trip  to  the  West 
Indies  was  taken  at  the  will  of  the  wind. 
A  certain  Sea-mercy  Adams,  among  the 
early  arrivals,  was  married  to  Mary  Brett ; 
but  the  first  Philadelphia  bride  was  Priscilla 
Allen,  who  was  married,  in  1 682,  to  Thomas 
Smith,  they  having  passed  one  meeting  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight. 

Many  pioneer  women  who  endured 
hardness  for  conscience'  sake,  and  for  the 
love  of  husbands  and  fathers,  who  brought 
them  to  these  shores,  were  doubtless 
worth  their  weight  in  gold ;  but  it  is  not 
recorded  of  all  of  them  that  this  exact 
measure  of  appreciation  was  meted  out  to 
them  as  in  the  case  of  Sarah  Morris.  Of 
her  we  read  that  when  she  married  Joseph 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       75 

Richardson,  her  father,  Anthony  Morris, 
placed  her  in  one  scale,  balancing  her 
weight  with  gold  in  the  other  for  a  mar 
riage  dower.  The  family  chronicle  quaintly 
adds  that  the  bride  was  of  exceeding  small 
stature. 

Mrs.  Earle,  in  her  valuable  and  enter 
taining  picture  of  New  England  customs 
and  fashions,  relates  a  somewhat  similar 
incident  in  connection  with  the  first  mar 
riage  of  Judge  Sewall,  except  that  in  the 
latter  case  the  bride  was  counted  only 
worth  her  weight  in  silver.  Her  father, 
Captain  Joseph  Hull,  gave  the  future 
Mrs.  Sewall  her  dower  in  shillings,  of  the 
famous  "  pine-tree"  brand. 

Progressiveness  among  women,  espe 
cially  in  business  matters,  is  usually  con 
sidered  a  nineteenth  century  departure, 
yet  back  in  the  days  of  the  settlement  of 
Pennsylvania  we  find  Madame  Mary  Fer- 
ree  taking  up  a  tract  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  acres  in  what  is  now  Lancaster 
County.  Madame  Ferree  was  the  widow 
of  John  Ferree,  a  French  gentleman  of 
distinction.  She  fled  to  Germany  to  es- 


/  COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

cape  religious  persecution  in  France,  and, 
after  spending  two  years  in  England,  came 
to  New  York,  and  afterwards  to  Pennsyl 
vania.  While  in  England,  Madame  Ferree 
was  presented  to  Queen  Anne  by  William 
Penn,  to  whom  she  brought  letters  of  in 
troduction.  From  such  luxuries  and  at 
tractions  as  the  Old  World  presented  to  one 
fitted  to  enjoy  them,  this  heroic  woman  set 
forth  with  her  family  to  make  a  home  in 
what  was  then  counted  the  wild  west. 

Another  enterprising  settler  was  Mrs. 
Duncan,  from  Scotland,  whose  name  ap 
pears  in  early  Philadelphia  directories  as 
"  Margaret  Duncan,  Merchant,  No.  I  S. 
Water  Street."  On  her  voyage  to  Amer 
ica  the  vessel  in  which  Mrs.  Duncan  sailed 
was  wrecked,  and  the  passengers  who  took 
to  the  boats  soon  found  that  they  had  car 
ried  so  little  food  with  them  that  they  were 
forced  to  draw  lots  in  order  to  divide  the 
scant  supply.  In  an  hour  of  great  ex 
tremity,  when  there  seemed  small  hope  of 
rescue,  Mrs.  Duncan  made  a  vow  to  build 
a  church  in  her  new  home  in  the  event  of 
her  deliverance.  The  "  Vow  Church"  stood 


WOMEN    IN   THE    EARLY   SETTLEMENT.       77 

on  the  west  side  of  Thirteenth  Street,  north 
of  Market,  and,  like  the  Roman  Catholics' 

"  Votive  frigate,  soft  aloft 
Riding  in  air  this  hundred  years, 
Safe  smiling  at  old  hopes  and  fears," 

long  bore  witness  to  the  faith,  prosperity, 
and  gratitude  of  this  good  Presbyterian 
settler  of  old  Philadelphia. 

A  merchant  princess  from  whom  many 
New  Yorkers  are  descended  was  Margaret 
Hardenbrook,  who  married,  in  1659,  Ru- 
dolphus  De  Vries,  an  extensive  trader  of 
New  Amsterdam,  and  after  his  death  be 
came  the  wife  of  Frederick  Philipse.  Dur 
ing  her  widowhood  Mrs.  De  Vries  under 
took  the  management  of  her  husband's 
estate,  which  is  said  to  have  been  a  prac 
tice  not  uncommon  in  New  Amsterdam, 
and  was  early  known  as  a  woman  trader, 
going  to  Holland  repeatedly  in  her  own 
ship  as  supercargo,  and  buying  and  trading 
in  her  own  name.  After  her  second  mar 
riage,  Mrs.  Philipse  still  continued  to  man 
age  her  estate,  and  through  his  wife's  thrift 
and  enterprise,  as  much  as  through  his 
own  industry,  Mr.  Philipse  soon  came  to 


78  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

be  the  richest  man  in  the  Colony,  being 
an  extensive  trader  with  the  Five  Nations 
at  Albany,  and  sending  ships  to  both  the 
East  and  the  West  Indies.  From  this 
marriage  of  Margaret  De  Vries  was  de 
scended  Mary  Philipse,  whose  chief  claim 
to  distinction  now  rests  upon  the  tradition 
that  she  was  an  early  love  of  Colonel 
Washington's. 

If  in  the  days  of  the  settlement  there 
were  to  be  seen  in  Massachusetts  and  Penn 
sylvania  interesting  and  notable  women, 
through  all  the  Colonies  we  find  their  faces 
and  voices  lending  softer  shadings  to  the 
rugged  scenes  of  pioneer  life.  Many  of 
these  women  were  the  wives  and  daugh 
ters  of  Colonial  governors,  secretaries,  and 
chief  justices,  patroons  and  landed  proprie 
tors.  Being  of  good  birth  and  breeding, 
and  equipped  with  whatever  intellectual 
training  was  deemed  suitable  for  a  woman 
in  those  days,  they  not  only  brought  com 
fort  and  the  sunshine  of  happiness  into  the 
early  homes  of  America,  but  also  a  certain 
refinement  and  elevation  of  thought  which 
are  most  frequently  a  woman's  donation 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       79 

to  the  life  around  her.  When  we  look 
into  the  faces  of  some  of  these  Colonial 
Dames,  as  they  have  come  down  to  us 
in  portraits  of  the  time,  and  read  there 
the  strength,  nobility,  and  self-restraint 
that  the  lines  disclose,  we  realize  how 
much  these  women  contributed  towards 
the  character-building  that  rendered  the 
Revolutionary  period  an  almost  phenom 
enal  epoch  in  the  history  of  nations. 

An  interesting  and  significant  circum 
stance  in  the  settlement  of  Virginia  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  no  women  came 
over  among  the  earliest  colonists,  as  did 
those  who  came  to  make  homes  upon  the 
more  northern  shores.  "  The  Virginia 
pioneers  were  treated,"  says  Mr.  Drake, 
"  not  as  men,  but  more  as  soldiers  sent  out 
to  occupy  an  enemy's  country."  Does  not 
this  circumstance,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  fact  that  "  the  painstaking  men  of  arts 
and  practices"  needed  for  the  settlement  of 
a  colony  were  wanting  in  this  one,  account 
for  the  failure  of  some  of  the  early  at 
tempts  at  colonization  in  Virginia  ?  From 
the  humbler  walks  of  life  there  was  sent 


8O  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

over  to  this  colony,  by  Sir  Edwin  Sandys, 
a  number  of  young  women  of  good  char 
acter  to  be  sold  to  such  of  the  planters 
as  would  take  them  for  wives  in  pay 
ment  of  their  passage  money,  the  sum  to 
be  paid  in  tobacco.  Sir  Edwin  realized 
that  unless  the  settlements  came  to  be 
looked  upon  as  a  home  they  would  not 
succeed,  notwithstanding  all  Virginia's 
natural  advantages,  of  which  Raphe 
Hamor  wrote,  "  I  know  no  one  country 
yielding,  without  art  or  industry,  so  many 
fruits ;  sure  I  am  England  does  not."  It 
was  considered  a  great  event  when  a  gen 
tlewoman,  Mistress  Forrest,  and  her  maid 
came  over  with  Newport  in  one  of  his 
later  voyages,  especially  as  the  maid, 
Anne  Burras,  married  one  of  the  settlers, 
John  Laydon.  In  the  manuscript  records 
of  Maryland  there  are  mentioned  a  Mar 
garet  and  a  Mary  Brent,  friends  or  rela 
tives  of  Governor  Leonard  Calvert,  who 
visited  the  Isle  of  Kent  accompanied  by 
Anne,  a  lame  maid-servant  of  Sir  Edward 
Plowden.  The  fact  that  such  arrivals  as 
these  were  chronicled  as  matters  of  im- 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       8 1 

portance  would  seem  to  indicate  that  few 
gentlewomen  came  early  to  the  Southern 
Colonies.  Yet  from  the  records  of  arrivals 
it  appears  that  a  number  of  women  of  the 
better  class  came  to  Virginia  with  their 
husbands  between  1617  and  1624,  while 
the  Hamiltons  and  Chews,  later  residents 
of  Pennsylvania,  were  early  settlers  in 
Maryland  and  Virginia.  Later,  there  arose 
upon  the  banks  of  the  James,  the  Potomac, 
and  the  Chesapeake,  stately  mansions  sur 
rounded  by  plantations  that  rivalled  the 
parks  of  old  England, — Shirley,  Brandon, 
Westover,  Gunston  Hall,  the  home  of  the 
Masons,  Flower  de  Hundred,  Wyanoke, 
the  Hermitage,  Wye  House, — names  syn 
onymous  with  generous  living,  hospitality, 
and  all  the  charms  with  which  refined 
womanhood  adorns  a  home.  It  was  to 
Ampthill,  his  country  seat  on  the  James 
River,  that  Archibald  Cary  brought  his 
beautiful  wife,  Mary  Randolph,  an  aunt  of 
the  famous  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke, 
and  grandmother  of  Thomas  Mann  Ran 
dolph,  Jr.,  Governor  of  Virginia. 

An  early  Maryland  settler  was  Madam 


82     COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

Anna  Neale,  whose  husband  was  a  man 
greatly   trusted    by    Charles    I.    of    Eng 
land,   while    she   was    in   the    service   of 
Queen  Henrietta  Maria  as  maid  of  honor. 
Among  family  heirlooms,  still  to  be  seen, 
are  a  large   ring   containing   a  miniature 
likeness  of  Charles  I.,  and  a  pendant  from 
a  necklace,  oval  in  form,,  set  in  brilliants 
and  pearls,  and  encircling  a  figure  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin    standing    under  a  crown 
upon  a  crescent,  supported  by  the  head  of 
a  cherub,  all  of  which  is  supposed  to  be  a 
representation  of  the  Assumption.    Both  of 
these  heirlooms  were  presents  from  the  ill- 
fated  royal  couple  of  England.     Nothing 
definite   is  known    of  Mrs.  Neale's   birth 
or  parentage,  although  a  family  chronicle 
quaintly  records   that   "  it  was  not  to  her 
discredit   that   she  was    an  American   by 
birth,  and  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Gynne 
(or    Gill),  a   planter   of  Charles    County, 
Maryland,  where   Captain   Neale   became 
acquainted  with   her  and    married  her."* 

*  Later  investigations  incline  us  to  the  belief  that 
Anna  Gill  was  born  in  England,  and  probably  married 
Captain  Neale  abroad,  as  she  and  her  four  children 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY   SETTLEMENT.       83 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Neale 
were  both  in  England  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.,  and  much  trusted  by  the  royal 
family,  the  captain  being  sent  by  the  king 
and  the  Duke  of  York  on  a  secret  mis 
sion  to  Spain.  "  The  relations  of  a  polit 
ical  nature,"  says  the  family  narrative, 
"  shown  by  this  agency  were  such  as  to 
bring  him  into  personal  friendship  with  the 
king,  and  Mrs.  Neale,  through  her  hus 
band's  influence,  into  the  service  of  the 
queen,  and  also  warranted  their  asking  and 
having  the  presence  of  her  Majesty  (by 
proxy)  at  the  baptism  of  their  eldest  daugh 
ter,  whom  they  were  permitted  to  name 
'  Henrietta  Maria,'  in  honor  of  her  royal 
sponsor."  * 

After    the    execution    of   the    king    in 
1648,  Captain  Neale  brought  his  family  to 

were  naturalized  on  coming  to  Maryland  in  1 666.  One 
account  of  this  lady  tells  us  that  she  was  a  maid  of  honor 
at  the  court  of  Anne  of  Austria,  which  may  have  been 
true,  as  Queen  Henrietta  Maria  took  refuge  with  her 
royal  sister-in-law  in  France,  whither  her  maid  of  honor, 
Anna  Gill,  may  have  accompanied  her. 

*  The  Chamberlaine  Family,  by  John  Bezman  Kerr. 


84  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Maryland,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land 
in  Charles  County  with  Spanish  coins 
known  as  "  cob  dollars,"  thus  originating 
the  name  of  Cob  Neck,  where  he  settled. 
From  the  union  of  these  two  romantic  fig 
ures  in  the  early  history  of  Maryland  have 
descended  Lloyds,  Tilghmans,  Hollydays, 
Haywards,  Goldsboroughs,  Chamberlaines, 
Carrolls,  Blakes,  and  Milnors,  while  fair 
Henrietta  Marias  in  different  generations 
have  perpetuated  the  name  of  their  royal 
godmother.  From  Captain  James  and 
Anna  Neale  came  the  distinguished  Arch 
bishop  Neale,  who  was  educated  in  France, 
ministered  to  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
parishes,  and  was  later  President  of  George 
town  College.  Another  noted  descendant 
of  Madam  Neale  was  Charles  Carroll,  the 
barrister,  who  acted  so  important  a  part  in 
early  Revolutionary  conventions  in  Mary 
land.  His  father,  Dr.  Charles  Carroll,  was 
of  the  great  Irish  house  of  Ely  O'Carroll, 
while  his  mother  was  lovely  Dorothy 
Blake,  a  grand-daughter  of  Anna  Neale. 

If  few  women  came  to  Virginia  in  the 
first  immigration,  there  were  in  1676  wives 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       85 

and  daughters  who  took  sides  with  their 
husbands  and  fathers  in  the  Great  Re 
bellion,  and,  like  the  young  wife  of  Major 
Cheeseman,  had  courage  to  face  the  cruel 
and  despotic  Berkeley.  A  few  years  earlier 
the  first  William  Byrd  had  brought  his 
English  wife,  Mary  Horsmanden,  to  West- 
over,  where  his  son  William  was  born. 
Early  in  the  next  century  Lady  Spotswood 
accompanied  her  husband  to  what  must 
have  then  seemed  the  outermost  bounds 
of  civilization,  Germanna,  Governor  Spots- 
wood's  settlement  of  Germans  upon  the 
Rapidan,  where  he  built  the  first  iron  fur 
nace  in  North  America. 

"An  enchanted  castle,"  Colonel  Byrd 
calls  Germanna,  of  which  he  writes  in  his 
entertaining  "  Progress  to  the  Mines,"— 

"  I  arrived  about  three  o'clock,  and  found  only  Mrs. 
Spotswood  at  home,  who  received  her  old  acquaintance 
with  many  a  gracious  smile.  I  was  carried  into  a  room 
elegantly  set  off  with  pier  glasses,  the  largest  of  which 
came  soon  after  to  an  odd  misfortune.  Amongst  other 
favourite  animals  that  cheered  this  lady's  solitude,  a 
brace  of  tame  deer  ran  familiarly  about  the  house,  and 
one  of  them  came  to  stare  at  me  as  a  stranger.  But 
unluckily  spying  his  own  figure  in  the  glass,  he  made  a 
8 


86  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 


spring  over  the  tea-table  that  stood  under  it,  and  shat 
tered  the  glass  to  pieces,  and,  falling  back  upon  the 
tea-table,  made  a  terrible  fracas  among  the  china.  This 
exploit  was  so  sudden,  and  accompanied  with  such  a 
noise,  that  it  surprised  me,  and  perfectly  frightened  Mrs. 
Spotswood.  But  it  was  worth  all  the  damage,  to  show 
the  moderation  and  good  humour  with  which  she  bore 
the  disaster.  In  the  evening  the  noble  colonel  came 
home  from  his  mines,  who  saluted  me  very  civilly,  and 
Mrs.  Spotswood' s  sister,  Miss  Theky,  who  had  been  to 
meet  him  en  cavalier,  was  so  kind  too  as  to  bid  me 
welcome.  We  talked  over  a  legend  of  old  stories, 
supped  about  nine,  and  then  prattled  with  the  ladies  till 
it  was  time  for  a  traveller  to  retire." 

A  pleasant  picture  Colonel  Byrd  has  left 
us  of  this  good  soldier  and  statesman, 
whom  he  calls  the  Tubal  Cain  of  Virginia, 
discussing  a  bowl  of  "  rack  punch"  and  his 
iron-making  with  the  master  of  Westover, 
or  perchance  unfolding  to  him  his  scheme 
for  reducing  the  mail  communication  be 
tween  Williamsburg  and  Philadelphia  to 
eight  days  !*  Colonel  Byrd  is  disposed  to 
rally  the  doughty  warrior  upon  his  great 
_ — 

*  Alexander  Spotswood  was  Deputy  Postmaster  Gen 
eral  for  the  Colonies  from  1730  to  1739,  and  it  was 
through  his  influence  that  Benjamin  Franklin  was  ap 
pointed  Postmaster  for  Pennsylvania. 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       87 

domesticity  and  devotion  to  Lady  Spots- 
wood,  "  rubbing  up  his  memory"  upon  the 
opposite  maxims  which  he  was  wont  to 
preach  before  he  was  married,  to  which  the 
Governor  replies,  like  the  gallant  gentle 
man  that  he  is,  "  that  whoever  brings  a 
poor  gentlewoman  into  so  solitary  a  place 
from  all  her  friends  and  acquaintances, 
would  be  ungrateful  not  to  use  her  with  all 
possible  tenderness." 

Although  Colonel  Byrd  is  occasionally 
inclined  to  sharpen  his  wits  at  the  expense 
of  the  fair  sex,  remarking  of  the  conversa 
tion  of  the  ladies  at  Germanna  that  it  was 
"  like  whip  syllabub,  very  pretty,  but  had 
nothing  in  it,"  while  he  discouragingly 
alludes  to  Mrs.  Chiswell  as  one  of  those 
"  absolute  rarities,  a  very  good  old  woman," 
and  makes  jokes  that  seem  unsuited  to  so 
courteous  a  gentleman  upon  Miss  Theky 
and  her  maiden  state,  which  he  describes 
her  as  bewailing  daily  in  a  beautiful  bower 
upon  Governor  Spotswood's  plantation, 
he  is  quite  ready  to  enjoy  a  Michaelmas 
goose  of  the  spinster's  raising,  and  to  find 
much  satisfaction  in  "the  good  company 


88  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

of  Mrs.  Byrd  and  her  little  governor,  my 
son." 

Those  were  days  of  unsavory  witticisms, 
and  Colonel  Byrd  was  only  following  the 
example  of  some  of  the  elegant  gentlemen 
with  whom  he  had  associated  while  com 
pleting  his  education  in  England.  Mr.  John 
Dunton,  who  visited  Boston  a  little  earlier, 
was  capable  of  making  remarks  upon  the 
women  whom  he  met  that  were  worthy  a 
countryman  of  the  caustic  Pepys,  although 
his  pen-pictures  are  usually  flattering.  Mrs. 
Stewart's  face,  at  thirty-three,  he  finds  "  a 
magazine  of  beauty  from  whence  she  may 
fetch  artillery  enough  to  wound  a  Thousand 
Lovers,"  which  makes  his  disapprobation 

of  Mrs.  D.,  Doll  S ,  and  others  stand 

out  in  stronger  colors.  The  latter  he  calls 
"  a  perpetual  contradiction,  made  up  of  I 
will  and  I  will  not ;"  while  of  another  dame, 
whose  name  he  prudently  omits,  he  ob 
serves  that  "  she  takes  as  much  state  upon 
her,  as  wou'd  have  serv'd  six  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  Countesses ;  and  yet  she's  no 
Lady  neither.  .  .  .  She  seldom  appears 
twice  in  a  shape ;  but  every  time  she  goes 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       89 

abroad,  puts  on  a  different  Garb.  Haa 
she  been  with  the  Israelites  in  the  Wilder 
ness,  when  for  forty  years  their  Cloaths 
wax'd  not  old,  it  had  been  punishment 
enough  for  her,  to  have  gone  so  long  in 
one  fashion." 

Fashion  had  certainly  made  great  strides 
since  the  days  of  the  early  settlement  if  a 
woman  could  thus  often  change  her  "  garb 
and  shape."  Judge  Sewall  might  well 
bewail  the  advance  into  favor  of  the  de 
spised  periwig,  and  if  he  one  day  experi 
ences  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  recording 
the  fact  that  a  periwig-maker  and  barber 
has  died  the  death  of  a  drunkard,  he  is 
pained  soon  after  to  hear  Mr.  Mather,  in  his 
pulpit,  inveigh  against  those  who  "  strain 
at  a  Gnat  and  swallow  a  Camel,"  who  are 
"  zealous  against  an  innocent  fashion,  taken 
up  and  used  by  the  best  of  men  ;  and  yet 
make  no  conscience  of  being  guilty  of  great 
Immoralities."  "  Tis  supposed  means  wear 
ing  a  Perriwig,"  says  Sewall.  "  I  expected 
not  to  hear  a  vindication  of  Perriwigs  in 

o 

Boston  pulpit  by  Mr.  Mather."     Nor  per 
haps  did  Mr.  Sewall  expect  to  see  in  his 
8* 


gO  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

own  town  of  Salem  a  glaring  advertise 
ment  of  elaborate  wigs  and  coiffures  for 
both  sexes.  Even  in  Quaker  Pennsylvania 
such  innovations  began  to  obtain  in  the 
next  century,  as  we  find  Lewis  Fay  and 
Louis  Duchateau  informing  the  public, 
through  the  journals  of  the  day,  that  they 
were  qualified  to  "dress  Ladies  in  fifty 
different  manners  with  their  own  natural 
hair,"  while  those  ladies  who  had  not 
sufficient  hair  of  their  own,  or  were  sub 
ject  to  headache,  were  consoled  with  the 
promise  that  they  could  be  "  dressed  with 
false  curls  so  well  as  not  to  be  distin 
guished  from  their  natural  ones."  These 
accomplished  artists  also  assured  their  pa 
trons  that  they  "  set  on  brilliants  or  flow 
ers  to  the  greatest  advantage,"  and,  not  to 
neglect  the  adornment  of  the  sterner  sex, 
engaged  "to  dress  Gentlemen's  hair  in 
thirty  fashionable  and  different  manners 
agreeable  to  their  faces  and  airs." 

This  sounds  like  gayety  and  frivolity ;  yet 
although  the  dignified  men  in  satin  coats 
and  lace  ruffles  who  look  down  upon  this 
generation  from  the  canvases  of  Black- 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       $1 

burn,  Smibert,  his  pupil  John  Copley,*  and 
from  those  of  Stuart,  West,  Peale,  and 
Trumbull,  were  very  elegant  gentlemen, 
they  were  also  industrious,  God-fearing 
men  and  law-abiding  citizens.  The  ladies, 
their  pendants  upon  the  wall,  if  they  were 
grandes  dames  in  a  certain  sense,  and  upon 
gala  days  appeared  stiff  and  elegant  in 
their  brocades  and  satins,  with  hair  tower 
ing  high  or  tortured  into  innumerable  curls 
and  rings,  were  far  from  frivolous  as  a  rule, 


*  In  none  of  his  paintings  does  Copley  more  fully 
display  the  grace  and  breadth  of  treatment  which  were 
the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  his  best  work  than 
in  the  group  of  his  own  family.  In  this  picture  Mrs. 
Copley  leans  forward  to  caress  her  boy,  whose  hand 
is  laid  confidingly  upon  his  mother's  cheek,  while  the 
little  maid  in  the  foreground  presents  a  charming  com 
bination  of  childish  innocence  and  dignity.  This  paint 
ing  possesses  a  more  than  ordinary  historic  interest,  as 
the  older  gentleman  standing  near  Mr.  Copley,  his  father- 
in-law,  is  the  Mr.  Richard  Clarke  who  refused  to  return 
the  tea  consigned  to  him  in  1774,  and  may  thus,  in  a 
certain  sense,  be  considered  the  originator  of  the  Boston 
tea  party,  the  boy  whom  Mrs.  Copley  bends  over  is  the 
future  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  and  the  little  girl, 
Elizabeth,  is  looked  upon  with  interest  by  many  Bos- 
tonians  as  their  ancestress,  Mrs.  Gardiner  Greene. 


92  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

and  if  an  occasional  ball  or  play  diversified 
the  monotony  of  their  days,  the  majority  of 
them  were  spent  as  Mr.  Swanwick  describes 
the  excellent  Maria  spending  hers  : 

"  No  gadding  frenzy  takes  her  choice, 
But  strictly  ruled  by  reason's  voice 
She  finds  no  bliss  to  roam, 
•x-  *  *  *  * 

No  hideous  dress  this  fair  one  wears, 
Not  fashions  but  a  mother's  cares 
Engross  her  every  hour." 

Indeed,  domesticity  was  a  necessity  as 
well  as  a  virtue  in  Colonial  and  Provincial 
life,  and  while,  as  Mr.  Dunton  remarked 
of  Mrs.  William  Stewart,  of  Boston,  "  Her 
pride  was  to  be  Neat  and  Cleanly,  and  her 
thrift  not  to  be  Prodigal,  which  made  her 
seldom  a  non-resident  of  her  household," 
the  Southern  matron  gathered  her  slaves 
about  her  and  instructed  them  in  cooking, 
sewing,  and  all  domestic  arts.  The  woman 
of  the  olden  time  was  skilled  in  the  use  of 
her  needle,  in  embroidery,  lace-making,  and 
all  manner  of  fine  needle-work.  Little 
Miss  Swift  wrote  from  Boston  to  her  papa 
and  mamma  in  Philadelphia  of  spending 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       93 

hours  at  her  "Tarn  Bar  frame,"  while  a 
pretty  picture  has  come  down  to  us  of  the 
young  girls  sitting  out  upon  Boston  Com 
mon  in  the  afternoon  with  their  spinning- 
wheels  before  them,  industry  being  the 
fashion  in  Colonial  days.  A  not  unat 
tractive  scene  this  to  the  traveller,  who 
was  taken  to  witness  the  latest  Boston 
device  for  combining  the  useful  and  the 
beautiful !  "  The  Government  being  in  the 
hands  of  Dissenters  they  don't  admit  of 
Plays,  or  Musick  -  houses,"  wrote  Mr. 
Bennet,  but  here  is  a  series  of  attractive 
tableaux  vivants  en  plein  air,  bevies  of  girls 
laying  their  hands  to  the  spindle,  like 
King  Solomon's  model  housewife,  or  as 
Mr.  Longfellow  pictured  the  captivating 
maiden  of  Plymouth  : 

"  Seated  beside  her  wheel,  and  the  carded  wool  like  a 
snow-drift 

Piled  at  her  knee,  her  white  hands  feeding  the  raven 
ous  spindle, 

While,  her  foot  on  the  treadle,  she  guided  the  wheel 
in  its  motion." 

These   girls    doubtless    covered    them 
selves  with  what  good  Mr.  Whitefield  called 


94  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

"  The  Pride  of  Life,"  and  indulged  in  as 
much  innocent  rivalry  over  caps  and  gowns 
as  over  the  number  of  hanks  of  flax  and 
wool  spun,  for  young  people  seemed  to 
be  young  even  in  New  England,  and  quite 
as  tender  glances  of  sweethearts  could  be 
exchanged  over  spinning-wheels  as  in  the 
pauses  of  the  dance  in  gayer  circles. 

A  descendant  of  Thomas  Jefferson's 
Belinda  writes  of  the  Virginia  lady  of  the 
olden  time,  "  Very  little  from  books  was 
thought  necessary  for  a  girl.  She  was 
trained  to  domestic  matters,  however,  must 
learn  the  accomplishments  of  the  day,  to 
play  upon  the  harpsichord  or  spinet,  and 
to  work  impossible  dragons  and  roses  on 
canvas."  Bits  of  embroidery  still  pre 
served  testify  to  the  skill  of  olden-time 
ladies.  Mrs.  Washington  was  a  notable 
needlewoman,  and  paintings  on  velvet  and 
satin,  and  pictures  executed  in  silk  and 
chenille  by  her  grand  -  daughter,  Nellie 
Custis,  prove  that  she  was  an  adept  in  such 
girlish  accomplishments.  Nor  was  the  busy 
needle  applied  to  ornamental  work  alone ; 
it  was  far  more  useful  than  the  pen,  and 


WOMEN    IN    THE    EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       95 

almost  as  powerful  as  the  sword,  in  those 
days  of  early  home-making.  Mr.  Thomas 
Nelson  Page,  in  his  charming  retrospective 
study  of  Virginia  life,  tells  us  how,  when 
her  husband  complained  of  the  gate  being 
broken,  the  industrious  mistress  of  the 
household  promptly  replied,  "Well,  my 
dear,  if  I  could  sew  it  with  my  needle  and 
thread,  I  would  mend  it  for  you." 

The  olden-time  girl,  except  in  the  home 
of  the  Puritan  and  the  Quaker,  was  taught 
to  dance  as  well  as  to  use  her  needle,  and 
in  the  Southern  Colonies  the  former  ac 
complishment  was  considered  so  important 
a  part  of fhe  education  of  a  young  lady 
that  Mr.  Jefferson  insisted  that  his  daugh 
ter  Martha  should  dance  three  days  in 
the  week,  from  eleven  until  one.  Dr. 
Franklin  also  expressed  great  interest  in 
Sally's  dancing  and  playing  upon  the 
harpsichord,  although  he  stipulated  that 
she  should  improve  her  mind  by  reading 
"The  Whole  Duty  of  Man"  and  "The 
Young  Lady's  Library."  That  less  in 
structive  literature  than  this  sometimes 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Colonial  maiden, 


« 
g6     COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

we  learn  from  the  diaries  of  Lucinda  of 
Virginia  and  Sarah  Eve.  The  former 
takes  herself  to  task  for  being  so  fond  of 
novel-reading,  while  Miss  Eve  pronounces 
"  The  Fashionable  Lover"  a  prodigious 
fine  comedy. 

In  addition  to  her  lighter  accomplish- 
.ments  the  Colonial  lady  was  an  excellent 
housekeeper,  in  days  when  housekeeping 
meant  having  everything  prepared  under 
the  supervision  of  the  mistress  of  the  home, 
from  the  cutting  up  of  the  pork  and  beef 
until  the  culminating  moment  when  the 
sausages  and  mince  pies  appeared  upon  the 
table.  There  were  in  many  of  the  old 
houses  retinues  of  servants,  and  in  the 
Middle  and  Southern  Colonies  slaves  to  do 
the  bidding  of  the  mistress,  but  everything 
had  to  be  superintended  by  her  ;  conse 
quently  in  some  of  the  old  letters  that 
come  to  us  we  find  numerous  homely 
domestic  details,  and  great  rejoicing  over 
any  small  luxury  or  labor-saving  device 
that  found  its  way  into  the  hands  of  the 
busy  chdtclaine.  When  travellers  wrote 
of  sumptuous  dinners  in  hospitable  South 


WOMEN    IN    THE   EARLY    SETTLEMENT.       Q/ 

ern  homes,  or  when  Mr.  William  Black 
told  how  he  was  feasted  in  Annapolis,  or 
when  Silas  Deane  described  an  elaborate 
dinner  at  the  house  of  Miers  Fisher  in 
Philadelphia,  they  little  knew  what  the 
preparation  and  arrangement  of  such  a 
menu  meant  to  the  mistress  of  the  house 
hold,  in  days  when  she  could  not  send 
around  the  corner  for  the  latest  device 
in  confectionery  with  which  to  grace  her 
board,  and  when  the  syllabubs  and  cus 
tards  were  often  prepared  by  the  same 
dainty  hands  that  served  them  to  her 
guests. 

A  pleasant  story  is  told  of  Mrs.  Clement 
Biddle,  a  worthy  descendant  of  pioneer 
women  of  Rhode  Island.  Mrs.  Biddle  was 
with  her  husband  in  the  Valley  Forge  en 
campment,  and  when  an  order  was  issued 
that  the  officers'  wives  should  leave  the 
camp,  she,  with  ready  tact  and  skill,  pre 
pared  so  delectable  a  dinner  for  General 
Washington  and  his  staff  that  the  order 
was  not  carried  out  in  her  case,  showing 
that  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution  were  not 
insensible  to  the  seductions  of  such  good 

E          £  9 


90  COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

cheer  as  a  notable  Philadelphia  housewife 
knew  how  to  set  before  the  masculine  de- 
vourer.  The  story  runs  that  as  Mrs.  Biddle 
rose  from  the  table,  she  airily  remarked 
that  she  had  heard  of  the  order,  but  felt 
sure  that  the  General  would  not  apply  it  to 
her,  to  which  charmingly  feminine  speech 
the  Commander-in-Chief,  bowing  low,  re 
plied,  "  Certainly  not  to  Mrs.  Biddle." 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES. 

AMONG  the  early  settlers  of  the  Colonies 
there  was,  occasionally,  a  woman  of  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  and  now  and 
again  a  ready  writer  or  a  verse-maker. 
Perhaps  in  all  the  settlements,  North  and 
South,  there  was  no  woman  equal  in  mind 
and  spirit  to  Anne  Hutchinson,  whom  even 
her  enemies  acknowledged  to  be  "  a  mas 
terpiece  of  woman's  wit." 

Enthusiasm,  unrestrained  by  tact  or 
worldly  considerations,  a  strain  of  head- 
strongness  in  her  religious  fervor,  and  a 
power  of  carrying  with  her  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  her  hearers,  were  apparently  the 
leading  characteristics  of  this  devoted 
young  woman,  the  latter  trait  being  per 
haps  the  most  difficult  for  her  persecutors 
to  overlook.  From  the  grim  travesty  of 

99 


100         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

that  trial  in  which  Winthrop,  Dudley,  Endi- 
cott,  and  other  worthies,  who  had  come  to 
the  New  World  for  freedom  of  thought  and 
action,  sat  in  judgment  upon  one  against 
whom  the  only  charge  made  was  that  she 
exercised  this  coveted  freedom  in  her  life 
and  teaching,  we  turn  with  a  mingled  sense 
of  shame  and  regret, — shame  that  men  who 
had  come  hither  for  such  high  purposes 
could  stoop  to  deeds  so  unworthy,  and 
regret  that  a  creature  of  such  noble 
spirit  should  have  been  so  misunderstood. 
Had  Anne  Hutchinson  found  her  way  to 
America  half  a  century  later,  with  the  fol 
lowers  of  Penn,  we  can  readily  imagine  the 
career  of  usefulness  and  honor  that  would 
have  opened  for  her. 

The  more  tolerant  doctrine  of  the  inner 
light  found  no  place  in  the  spiritual  furni 
ture  of  those  who  had  shaken  off  the  iron 
hand  of  a  State  Church,  and  when  we 
look  back  upon  the  dealings  of  the  early 
Puritans  with  one  another  it  seems  as  if 
the  rule  that  "  might  makes  right"  was  as 
stoutly  maintained  in  New  England  as  in 
the  feudal  life  of  older  England. 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   IOI 

In  the  same  community  that  condemned 
and  banished  Anne  Hutchinson  for  her 
teaching  of  "  dangerous  doctrine,"*  we  find 
another  attractive  womanly  personality, 
Anne  Bradstreet,  who  is  spoken  of  in  the 
first  London  edition  of  her  poems  as  "  The 
Tenth  Muse  Lately  Sprung  up  in  Amer 
ica,"  f  but  who  is  dearer  to  us  as  our  first 
poetess,  singing  like  a  lark  in  the  chill  New 
England  morn.  Her  verses  we  may  not 
care  to  read  now ;  although  they  are  char 
acterized  by  considerable  poetic  thought 
and  by  some  graces  of  poetic  treatment, 
besides  bearing  marks  of  an  early  acquaint 
ance  with  the  great  English  writers  of  the 
past  century,  some  of  whom  were  still  liv 
ing  while  little  Anne  Dudley  was  "  lisping 

*  "  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  custom  seems  to  have  been  to 
report  the  discourses  of  Mr.  John  Cotton,  and  to  impress 
their  lessons  upon  her  hearers.  In  the  progress  of  the 
discussion  the  sermons  of  other  ministers  were  com 
mented  upon,  and  finally  her  own  views  presented." — 
Memorial  History  of  Boston,  iv.  334. 

f  The  poetess  is  also  spoken  of  by  an  English  ad 
mirer  as  "  Mistress  Anne  Bradstreet,  at  present  residing 
in  the  Occidental  parts  of  the  'world  in  America,  alias 
NOV-ANGLIA." 


IO2          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

in  .numbers/'  if  dealing  in  numbers  at  all. 
To  uncongenial  surroundings  and  houses 
ill  fitted  to  protect  the  settlers  from  the 
bleak  winds  and  storms  of  a  New  England 
winter  came  Mrs.  Bradstreet,  from  an  Eng 
lish  home  of  the  better  class,  which,  if 
boasting  few  of  the  luxuries  of  to-day,  was 
sufficiently  comfortable  in  its  appointments 
to  form  a  strong  contrast  to  the  dwellings 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts. 
Sensitive,  delicately  nurtured,  her  mind 
always  in  advance  of  her  frail  body,  her 
first  American  experiences  being  the  ill 
ness  and  death  of  her  friend  and  fellow- 
voyager,  the  lovely  Lady  Arbella  Johnson, 
and  the  drowning  of  young  Henry  Win- 
throp,  it  is  not  strange  that  one  of  Mrs. 
Bradstreet's  earliest  poems  should  have 
been  upon  "  A  Fit  of  Sickness,"  nor  that 
it  should  have  been  followed  a  few  months 
later  by  a  joyous  outburst  of  song  upon 
the  approach  of  spring : 

"  As  spring  the  winter  doth  succeed, 

And  leaves  the  naked  trees  doe  dresse, 
The  earth  all  black  is  cloth'd  in  green  ; 
At  sunshine  each  their  joy  expresse. 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   1 03 

"  My  winters  past,  my  stormes  are  gone, 

And  former  cloudes  seem  now  all  fled ; 
But,  if  they  must  eclipse  again, 
I'll  run  where  I  was  succored." 

What  this  first  spring  must  have  been  to 
these  pilgrims  when  they  beheld  the  gray 
hill-sides  and  snow-bound  valleys  covered 
with  verdure  and  bloom,  and  "  replenished 
with  thick  woods  and  high  trees,"  we  learn 
from  the  expressions  of  that  quaint  and 
amusing  chronicler,  Francis  Higginson. 

Disposed  to  make  the  best  of  every 
thing,  this  worthy  divine  rejoiced  alike  over 
the  trials  and  hardships  that  were  good  for 
his  soul,  and  the  dainty  springs,  luscious 
lobsters,  and  sweet  and  wholesome  bass 
that  sustained  his  mortal  body,  finding  here 
an  "  increase  of  corne,  which  proved  this 
country  to  be  a  wonderment,  which  outstript 
Joseph's  increase  in  Egypt."  Yet,  great  as 
was  this  increase,  it  was  not  sufficient  to 
outlast  the  long  stagnation  of  the  winter, 
when  the  cold  was  so  great  that  Judge 
Sewall  tells  of  the  sacramental  bread  being 
frozen  upon  the  plate,  and  when  Judge 
Lynde  was  in  the  habit  of  driving  across 


IO4          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Penny's  ferry  on  the  ice.  A  realization 
of  what  was  suffered  by  the  youngest 
members  of  the  community  is  emphasized 
by  the  sight  of  a  pair  of  christening  mit 
tens  worn  in  his  babyhood  by  an  early 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  which  were 
certainly  needed  in  churches  where  fire 
was  unknown, — except  perhaps  as  a  figure 
of  speech  in  the  pulpit. 

"  The  bright  and  at  times  almost  tropi 
cal  summers  of  New  England  must  have 
been  the  salvation  of  the  colonists,"  says 
Mr.  Lodge.  "  Nothing  else  broke  the 
gloom.  There  were  absolutely  no  amuse 
ments  of  .any  kind,  and  although  establish 
ing  great  political  and  religious  principles 
and  founding  States  are  the  noblest  tasks 
to  which  men  can  set  their  hands,  yet 
poor  humanity  requires  some  relaxation. 
Nature's  winter  was  severe,  but  it  lasted 
only  for  a  season,  while  the  social  winter 
was  never  broken  until  the  whole  system 
began  to  give  way  in  the  next  century." 

From  this  chilling  atmosphere,  Anne 
Bradstreet  wrote,  at  the  age  of  nine 
teen, — 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   IO5 

"  Twice  ten  years  old  not  fully  told  since  nature  gave  me 

breath, 

My  race  is  run,  my  thread  is  spun,  lo !  here  is  fatal 
Death." 

That  her  race  was  not  run,  and  that  Mrs. 
Bradstreet  lived  to  be  more  than  three 
times  nineteen,  and  the  happy  mother  of 
eight  children,  does  not  detract  from  the 
pathos  of  these  youthful  lines. 

Whatever  gifts  may  have  been  Anne 
Bradstreet's  possession,  we  may  believe 
that  they  had  small  space  for  expansion 
in  a  community  that  fed  with  avidity  upon 
such  mental  pabulum  as  "  The  Simple 
Cobbler  of  Agawam,"  and  later  upon 
Wigglesworth's  "  Day  of  Doom,"  with 
its  descriptions,  worthy  the  advanced  real 
ist  of  to-day.  In  the  latter  work  the 
author  descants  upon  the  sufferings  of 
the  condemned  and  of  the  unelect  in 
fants,  who,  although  assured  that  their 
sins  were  not  equal  to  those  of  the  hard 
ened  reprobate,  were  told,  poor  babes, 
that  for  the  crime  of  coming  into  this 
world  at  all,  there  apparently  being  no 
other, — 


IO6         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

"  Therefore  in  bliss 
You  may  not  hope  to  dwell ; 
But  unto  you  I  shall  allow 
The  easiest  room  in  hell." 

That  Mrs.  Bradstreet  should  have  risen 
above  the  depressing  influence  of  her  life 
and  surroundings  enough  to  sing  at  all  is 
sufficient  wonder,  not  that  her  notes  should 
have  been  tinged  with  the  melancholy  of 
the  prevailing  atmosphere.  It  is  to  be  re 
gretted  that  she  did  not  more  frequently 
turn  from  the  introspective  studies  that 
engaged  her  pen,  and  from  such  time-worn 
themes  as  the  Four  Seasons,  the  Four  Ele 
ments,  and  Ancient  Monarchies,  to  de 
scribe  events  and  impressions  belonging  to 
the  new  life  around  her.  This  was  a  time 
when  some  picturesque  personalities  were 
abroad,  and  if  the  persecutions  of  Quakers 
and  other  independent  thinkers  have  pre 
sented  scenes  sufficiently  stirring  to  arouse 
the  fancy  of  later  poets  and  dramatists,  it 
seems  strange  that  they  failed  to  inspire 
this  most  sensitive  and  imaginative  woman. 

It  should  perhaps  be  remembered  that 
those  were  days  when  women  were  less 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   IO/ 

accustomed  to  giving  their  opinions  upon 
public  matters  than  now,  while  another 
and  a  stronger  reason  for  Mrs.  Brad- 
street's  silence  upon  these  burning  ques 
tions  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Gov 
ernor  Dudley  and  Simon  Bradstreet  were 
both  engaged  in  the  trials  of  Anne  Hutch- 
inson  and  of  the  Quakers,  the  latter,  be  it 
said  to  his  credit,  with  far  less  malignity 
than  the  former.*  Although  Anne  Brad- 
street's  loyalty  to  her  father  and  husband 
seems  to  have  kept  her  pen  silent  when 
her  spirit  must  often  have  rebelled,  she 
had  enough  vigor  left  in  her  frail  body 
to  utter  her  protest  against  the  carping 
tongues  that  thought  a  needle  fitted  her 
hand  better  than  a  pen,  vindicating  her 
woman's  right  to  be  a  poet  by  quoting  the 
Greeks,  whose  muses  nine  were  embodied 
in  woman's  form, 

"  And  poesy  made  Calliope's  own  child." 

When  Mrs.  Bradstreet  touches  upon  nature 
and  life,  as  she  occasionally  does  in  "  Con- 

*  For  some  incidents  in  Mrs.  Bradstreet's  life  we 
are  indebted  to  Helen  Campbell's  charming  study  of 
"Anne  Bradstreet  and  Her  Times." 


108          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

templations,"  and  in  her  few  domestic 
poems,  she  reveals  a  much  finer  literary 
quality,  besides  giving  the  reader  a  glimpse 
of  her  tender  nature  and  passionate  woman's 
heart.  During  one  of  Governor  Bradstreet's 
enforced  absences  from  their  Ipswich  home 
his  wife  wrote, — 

"  My  head,  my  heart,  mine  Eyes,  my  life,  my  more, 
My  joy,  my  Magazine  of  earthly  store. 
If  two  be  one  as  surely  thou  and  I, 
How  stayest  thou  there,  whilst  I  at  Ipswich  lye  ?" 

Again  she  says, — 

"As  Loving  Hind  (Hartless)  wants  her  Deer, 
Scuds  through  the  woods  and  Fern  with  hearkening 

ear, 

Perplext  in  every  bush  and  nook  doth  pry, 
Her  dearest  Deer  might  answer  ear  or  eye." 

It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  if  Mrs.  Brad- 
street  likened  herself  to  his  "  Hind,"  his 
"  Mullet,"  and  his  "  Dove,"  Simon  Brad- 
street  was  in  some  measure  worthy  of  his 
wife's  devotion,  being  far  more  liberal- 
minded  and  kindly  by  nature  than  were 
most  of  those  who  surrounded  him,  and  a 
personable  man  withal,  if  one  may  jjjdge 
from  his  portrait.  His  affection  for  his 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   1 09 

wife  was  so  strong  that  after  her  death  in 
1675  he  remained  a  widower  for  three 
years,  a  long  period  of  mourning  for  a 
wife  in  Puritan  New  England. 

One  of  Mrs.  Bradstreet's  poems,  in  which 
she  describes  her  children  as  "  eight  birds 
hatcht  in  one  nest,"  is  suggestive  of  Chaucer 
in  its  quaint  simplicity  and  in  the  writer's 
skilful  handling  of  homely  details.  This 
poem  was  written  some  years  after  the 
Bradstreets  removed  to  Andover,  and  is, 
as  Mrs.  Campbell  says,  a  sort  of  family 
biography.  Some  of  the  older  children 
were  married  and  settled  in  their  own 
homes,  while  the  younger  ones  still 
"  nested"  with  their  mother.  In  view  of 
her  eldest  son's  leaving  home,  Mrs.  Brad- 
street  beseeches  him  to 

"  Fly  back  and  sing  amidst  this  Quire," 

while  the  little  ones,  still  in  the  nest,  she 
thus  admonishes  with  tender  bird-mother 
solicitude : 

"  Alas,  my  birds,  you  wisdome  want, 
Of  perils  you  are  ignorant ; 
Oft  times  in  grass,  on  trees,  in  flight, 
Sore  accidents  on  you  may  light." 

10 


IIO         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Through  the  entire  poem,  which  is  quite 
long,  the  writer  never  drops  or  mixes  her 
figures,  even  when  she  recounts  the  dan 
gers  to  which  her  brood  is  likely  to  be 
exposed,  as  in  the  lines, — 

"  If  birds  could  weep,  then  would  my  tears 
Let  others  know  what  are  my  fears 
Lest  this  my  brood  some  harm  should  catch, 
And  be  surpriz'd  for  want  of  watch, 
Whilst  pecking  corn,  and  void  of  care 
They  fall  un'wares  in  Fowler's  snare; 
Or  whilst  on  trees  they  sit  and  sing, 
Some  untoward  boy  at  them  do  fling ; 
Or  whilst  allur'd  with  bell  and  glass, 
The  net  be  spread,  and  caught,  alas. 
Or  least  by  Lime-twigs  they  be  foyl'd, 
Or  by  some  greedy  hawks  be  spoyl'd. 
O,  would  my  young,  ye  saw  my  breast, 
And  knew  what  thoughts  there  sadly  rest. 
Great  was  my  pain  when  I  you  bred, 
Great  was  my  care  when  I  you  fed, 
Long  did  I  keep  you  soft  and  warm, 
And  with  my  wings  kept  off  all  harm." 

If  this  mother,  whose  heart  was  filled 
with  such  trembling  solicitude  for  the 
future  of  her  brood,  could  have  realized 
that  from  the  home-nest  at  Andover  were 
to  descend  such  lights  in  literature  and 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   Ill 

theology  as  the  Channings,  the  Danas, 
Wendell  Phillips,  and  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  the  strain  with  which  she  closed 
her  poem  might  have  been  more  exultant, 
but  could  have  been  no  more  earnest : 

"  Thus  gone,  amongst  you  I  may  live, 
And  dead,  yet  speak,  and  counsel  give ; 
Farewel,  my  birds  farewel,  adieu, 
I  happy  am,  if  well  with  you." 

Another  New  England  poetess,  of  a 
much  later  date,  was  Mercy  Warren, 
daughter  of  James  Otis,  of  Barnstable, 
and  wife  of  James  Warren,  sometime 
President  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of 
Massachusetts.*  This  lady,  whom  her 
friend  Mrs.  Winthrop  addressed  as  Philo 
mela,  wrote  a  number  of  poems  and  trage 
dies  abounding  in  the  classical  allusions 

*  George  Sandys  was  writing  verses  and  translating 
Ovid  on  the  banks  of  the  James  ten  years  before  Anne 
Bradstreet  came  to  Massachusetts.  Yet  in  the  years 
that  followed,  the  muse  of  poetry  was  more  prone  to 
frequent  the  New  England  Colonies  than  those  of  Vir 
ginia  and  Maryland,  although  no  more  inspiring  themes 
could  be  found  than  histories  as  romantic  as  that  of 
Evelyn  Byrd,  and  faces  as  beautiful  as  those  of  Mary 
Randolph,  Anne  Francis,  and  Dorothy  Blake. 


112          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES- 

so  common  at  that  time.  Political  reveries 
in  verse  also  engaged  her  pen,  and  spirited 
attacks  upon  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  day,  in  which 

"  India's  poisonous  weed, 
Long  since  a  sacrifice  to  Thetis  made," 

came  in  for  a  full  share  of  her  keen  satire. 
Mrs.  Warren  also  left  a  number  of  admi 
rable  pen-pictures  of  the  great  men  of  the 
day,  clear,  sharp,  and  well  drawn.  It  is 
interesting  to  learn  from  one  of  her  letters, 
written  during  the  encampment  at  Cam 
bridge,  that  she  considered  General  Wash 
ington  "  the  most  amiable  and  accom 
plished  gentleman  both  in  person,  mind 
and  manners  that  she  has  ever  met  with," 
and  equally  so  to  know  that  her  first  im 
pression  of  Charles  Lee  was  far  less  favor 
able,  and  that  she  found  him,  with  all  his 
learning  and  ability,  "  plain  in  his  person 
to  a  degree  of  ugliness  and  careless  even 
to  unpoliteness." 

Nor  were  the  visits  of  the  muse  con 
fined  to  the  Colonial  and  Provincial  women 
of  New  England,  as  we  learn  that  down 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   113 

in  Pennsylvania  Elizabeth  Fergusson  was 
composing  poetry  about  the  same  time  as 
Mrs.  Warren,  while  Mrs.  Deborah  Logan, 
a  little  later,  was  writing  both  prose  and 
verse,  the  former  destined  to  survive  the 
latter,  not  only  because  it  was  more  ex 
cellent,  but  also  because  it  gives  us  pic 
tures  of  the  times,  a  form  of  composition 
whose  value,  like  wine,  increases  with  the 
years.  Susanna  Wright,  Hannah  Griffitts, 
a  grand-daughter  of  the  first  Isaac  Norris, 
and  Mrs.  Richard  Stockton  were  among 
our  early  poetesses.  The  latter,  born 
Annis  Boudinot,  a  New  Jersey  woman, 
composed  verses  upon  "  Peace,"  upon 
"  The  Surrender  of  Cornwallis,"  and  a 
triumphal  ode  to  the  Commander-in-Chief. 
The  letters  in  which  Washington  thanked 
Mrs.  Stockton  for  these  patriotic  poems 
are  among  the  most  charming  and  play 
ful  to  be  found  in  his  correspondence, 
and,  if  somewhat  more  ponderous  than 
similar  effusions  in  our  day,  are  interesting 
as  illustrations  of  what  the  great  man 
could  do  upon  occasions  when  fancy  held 
the  rein.  The  poetess  modestly  sent  a 
h  10* 


114         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

line  of  apology  with  her  verses,  to  which 
the  hero  who  inspired  her  muse  thus 
replied : 

"  You  apply  to  me,  my  dear  madam,  for  absolution, 
as  though  I  was  your  father  confessor,  and  as  though 
you  had  committed  a  crime  great  in  itself,  yet  of  the 
venial  class.  You  have  reason  good ;  for  I  find  myself 
strangely  disposed  to  be  a  very  indulgent  ghostly  adviser 
upon  this  occasion,  and  notwithstanding  '  you  are  the 
most  offending  soul  alive'  (that  is,  if  it  is  a  crime  to  write 
elegant  poetry),  yet  if  you  will  come  and  dine  with  me 
on  Thursday,  and  go  through  the  proper  course  of  peni 
tence  which  shall  be  prescribed,  I  will  strive  hard  to 
assist  you  in  expiating  these  poetical  trespasses  on  this 
side  of  purgatory." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stockton  were  evidently 
a  most  congenial  and  devoted  couple.  In 
their  letters  they  frequently  addressed  each 
other  as  "  Lucius"  and  "  Emilia,"  after 
the  fanciful  custom  of  the  day.  Some  of 
these  letters,  written  while  Mr.  Stockton 
was  in  London  in  1766,  engaged  with  Dr. 
Franklin  in  furthering  the  interests  of  the 
Colonies,  give  us  pleasing  glimpses  of  the 
wife,  as  seen  through  glasses  that  were 
prone  to  magnify  rather  than  to  diminish 
her  charms.  Mrs.  Stockton  had  declined 
to  accompany  her  husband  abroad,  because 


A    GROUP    OF    EARLY    POETESSES.       I  1 5 

she  was  unwilling  to  leave  her  children,  or, 
as  she  expressed  it,  she  felt  "  no  particular 
call  of  Providence  to  venture  both  their 
parents  in  one  bottom,"  and  in  all  Mr. 
Stockton's  letters,  whether  describing  the 
royalties  or  such  notable  political  figures 
as  Chatham  and  Grenville,  or  in  preparing 
for  his  wife  a  plan  of  Mr.  Pope's  gardens 
and  grotto  at  Twickenham,  there  runs  a 
thread  of  regret  that  one  so  fitted  by  taste 
and  cultivation  to  appreciate  Old  World 
sights  and  sounds  should  not  be  enjoying 
them  with  him.  After  descanting  upon 
the  glories  of  the  queen's  birthnight  ball, 
which  was  opened  by  some  of  the  royalties 
and  graced  by  the  presence  of  the  Duch 
esses  of  Bolton,  Ancaster,  Hamilton,  and 
all  the  other  famous  beauties,  he  concludes, 
"  But  here  I  have  done  with  the  subject, 
for  I  had  rather  wander  with  you  along 
the  rivulets  of  Morven  or  Red  Hill,  and 
see  the  rural  sports  of  the  chaste  little 
frogs,  than  again  be  at  a  birthnight  ball." 
In  another  letter,  Lucius  speaks  of  his 
Emilia's  poems,  desiring  her  to  send  him 
some  of  the  pieces  he  most  admired,  adding, 


Il6    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

"  I  shall  like  much  to  have  them  to  spell 
over  for  my  amusement  on  my  passage 
home."  Although  Mrs.  Stockton  was  very 
modest  about  her  effusions,  and  shrank 
from  the  notoriety  of  print,  Mrs.  Fergusson 
speaks  of  her,  in  one  of  her  own  poems, 
as  the  writer  of  many  pleasing  verses  : 

"  Here  flow  the  good  Emilia's  strains 
In  Morven's  rural  bowers." 

One  of  Mrs.  Stockton's  daughters,  Julia, 
married  the  distinguished  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush,  and  another,  Mary,  became  the  wife 
of  Andrew  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  who  was 
publicly  thanked  by  General  Washington 
for  his  gallant  service  in  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth. 

Elizabeth  Fergusson  did  not  write  patri 
otic  verses,  as  she  was  allied  by  birth  and 
marriage  with  the  Tory  side  of  the  ques 
tion,  being  the  grand-daughter  of  Lady 
Anne  Keith,*  second  wife  of  Sir  William 

*  Mrs.  Fergusson  was  not  the  grand-daughter  of  Sir 
"William  Keith,  as  has  been  so  often  stated,  but  of  his 
wife.  By  her  first  husband,  Robert  Diggs,  Lady  Keith 
had  a  daughter  Anne,  who  married  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme, 
of  Philadelphia. 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   I  I/ 

Keith,  Penn's  last  deputy  governor,  and 
the  wife  of  Hugh  Fergusson,  British  Com 
missioner  of  Prisoners. 

The  story  of  Mrs.  Fergusson  having,  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Revolution,  been  a 
medium  of  communication  between  Gover 
nor  Johnson  and  the  American  authorities, 
with  a  view  to  the  bringing  about  of  peace 
negotiations,  is  well  known,  and  yet  her  part 
in  the  affair  has  never  been  thoroughly 
understood.  She  says  that  she  "  looked  upon 
Governor  Johnson  as  a  friend  to  America 
who  wished  some  person  to  step  forth  and 
act  a  mediatorial  part,  and  suggest  some 
thing  to  stop  the  effusion  of  blood  which 
was  likely  to  ensue  if  the  war  was  carried 
on  in  full  vigor."  We  can  understand  that 
Mrs.  Fergusson's  humanity,  aside  from  any 
Tory  proclivities,  would  naturally  lead  her 
to  desire  to  bring  about  such  a  consumma 
tion  ;  but  that  a  woman  of  her  mind  and 
character  should  have  allowed  herself, 
with  her  eyes  open,  to  engage  in  a  trans 
action  in  which  ten  thousand  guineas  and  a 
good  post  in  the  British  government  were 
offered  to  an  American  general  in  reward 


I  1 8          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

for  his  services,  is  difficult  to  explain.  We 
can  do  no  better  than  accept  Mrs.  Fer- 
gusson's  own  interpretation  of  the  matter, 
and  conclude  that  she  was  ignorant  of  the 
grosser  details  of  the  transaction,  and 
thought  only  of  the  desired  result.  "  I 
own,"  she  says  in  one  place,  "  I  find  it 
hard,  knowing  the  uncorruptness  of  my 
own  heart,  to  be  held  out  to  the  public 
as  a  tool  to  the  commissioners.  But  the 
impression  is  now  made,  and  it  is  too  late 
to  recall  it."  Much  of  the  unpleasantness 
of  the  association  of  this  affair  with  her 
name,  Mrs.  Fergusson  was  able  to  dispel 
later  by  her  own  narrative,  prepared  as 
a  refutation  of  Governor  Johnson's  state 
ments.  The  fact  also  that  so  patriotic  a 
contemporary  as  Dr.  Rush  spoke  with 
unqualified  praise  of  the  woman,  as  well 
as  of  the  writer,  leads  us  to  believe  that 
Mrs.  Fergusson's  motives  were  under 
stood  and  respected  by  those  who  knew 
her  best. 

From  this  rather  involved  page  of  per 
sonal  history  it  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  an 
earlier  phase  of  this  woman's  life,  when,  as 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   1 19 

the  young  daughter  of  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme, 
she  assisted  her  father  and  mother  to  dis 
pense  the  charming  hospitality  that  ren 
dered  Graeme  Park  *  a  favorite  resort  of  the 
cultivated  men  and  women  of  the  day,  or 
amid  its  lovely  groves  composed  the  verses 
that  made  her  one  of  the  foremost  Ameri 
can  poets  of  her  time.  Miss  Graeme's 
tastes  were  distinctly  literary.  In  addition 
to  her  original  poems,  she  translated  Tel- 
emachus  into  English  verse,  while  of  her 
prose  writings  Dr.  Rush  wrote  that  they 
indicated  "  strong  marks  of  genius,  taste, 
and  knowledge.  Nothing,"  he  says,  "  that 
came  from  her  pen  was  common ;"  to 
which  a  no  less  capable  critic  than  Mr. 
Joshua  Francis  Fisher  added  his  meed  of 
praise. 

Although  Miss  Graeme,  under  the 
pseudonyme  of  "  Laura,"  sometimes  in 
dulged  in  elegiac  strains,  and,  like  most 

*  Graeme  Park  is  in  Montgomery  County,  about  nine 
teen  miles  from  Philadelphia;  the  land  on  which  the 
house  was  built  was  originally  owned  by  Samuel  Car 
penter.  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme  bought  the  estate  from 
Sir  William  Keith. 


I2O    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

young  poets,  sighed  for  sadness  and  soli 
tude,  choosing  for  her  retreat 

"  Some  moss-grown  cave, 
Where  oozing  creeping  waters  flow," 

a  delicate  humor  marks  many  of  her 
verses,  especially  those  that  resulted 
from  her  friendship  with  the  Rev.  Na 
thaniel  Evans.  In  1764,  Miss  Graeme 
sailed  for  Europe  with  the  Rev.  Richard 
Peters,  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Philadel 
phia,  in  whose  care  she  had  been  placed 
by  her  parents.  While  in  London  the 
young  poetess  met  many  persons  of  dis 
tinction,  among  others  the  celebrated  Dr. 
John  Fothergill,  who  became  her  friend  as 
well  as  her  physician.  Calling  to  see  her 
one  March  day  in  1765,  Dr.  Fothergill 
exclaimed,  "  Yesterday  you  were  made  a 
slave  of,  Betsey,"  to  which  she,  girl-like, 
suspecting  some  raillery  on  the  subject 
of  matrimony,  replied,  "  No,  sir,  I  am  a 
slave  to  no  man ;  my  heart  is  my  own." 
"  No,  no,  heart  has  nothing  to  do  with 
it,"  said  the  doctor,  explaining  that  he  re 
ferred  to  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act, 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   121 

which  made  her  and  her  countrymen  slaves 
of  Great  Britain. 

On  her  return  voyage  Miss  Graeme  met 
the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Evans,  between  whom 
and  herself  there  soon  grew  up  a  strong 
liking.  Whether  or  not  Miss  Graeme's 
heart  was  involved  in  this  friendship  it  is 
difficult  to  say.  That  Mr.  Evans  suc 
cumbed  to  the  charms  of  the  young  poet 
ess  his  verses  plainly  revealed ;  certainly 
his  death,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  closed 
a  chapter  which  left  its  impress  upon  her 
future  career.  Soon  after  his  return  from 
abroad,  Mr.  Evans,  who  was  in  delicate 
health,  was  advised  by  his  kindly  physi 
cian,  Dr.  Graeme,  to  spend  a  part  of  the 
spring  at  Graeme  Park ;  hence  the  follow 
ing  verse : 

"  Thus  musing  o'er  the  charming  plains, 

Where  Graeme  the  good  and  just  retires, 
Where  Laura  breathes  her  tender  strains, 
Where  every  graceful  muse  inspires." 

An  attractive  setting  this  for  the  pastoral 
of  parson  and  poetess  !  Even  now  Graeme 
Park  has  a  charm  of  its  own  ;  much  more 
in  Colonial  days,  when  the  fine  old  house, 

F  II 


122          COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

built  by  Governor  Keith  for  his  own  resi 
dence,  and  surrounded  by  three  hundred 
acres  of  wooded  park,  double-ditched  and 
hedged  in  approved  English  fashion,  with 
sheep  and  cattle  grazing  upon  its  verdant 
slopes,  was  the  pride  of  the  neighborhood. 
Although  the  friendship  destined  to  end 
so  sadly  began  gayly  enough  with  jesting 
and  good-humored  raillery,  there  is  a 
deeper  tone  in  the  man's  verses  than  in  the 
woman's  ;  and  if  the  rhymed  badinage  of 
this  couple  recalls  to  us,  as  it  did  to  the 
writers  themselves,  the  friendship  of  Swift 
and  Stella,  we  must  transpose  our  charac 
ters,  as  in  the  case  of  the  American  pair  it 
was  the  woman  who  carrried  off  the  palm 
by  the  keenness  and  brilliancy  of  her  satire. 
Swift  cruelly  reminded  Stella  that  her 
dancing  days  were  over,  and,  in  verses  ad 
dressed  to  her  upon  her  birthday,  wondered 
how  an  angel  would  look  at  thirty-six  ;  but 
it  was  Miss  Graeme,  "  Laura,"  who  satirized 
some  of  her  reverend  friend's  foibles  so 
cleverly  in  her  "  Country  Parson"  that  he 
was  quick  to  recognize  his  own  portrait  in 
the  dominie  of  whom  she  wrote  : 


A  GROUP  OF  EARLY  POETESSES.   123 

"  Of  manners  gentle,  and  of  temper  even, 
He  jogs  his  flock,  with  easy  pace,  to  heaven. 
In  Greek  and  Latin,  pious  books  he  keeps ; 
And,  while  his  clerk  sings  psalms,  he — soundly  sleeps. 
His  garden  fronts  the  sun's  sweet  orient  beams, 
And  fat  church- wardens  prompt  his  golden  dreams. 
From  rustic  bridegroom  oft  he  takes  the  ring; 
And  hears  the  milk-maid  plaintive  ballads  sing. 
Back-gammon  cheats  whole  winter  nights  away, 
And  Pilgrim's  Progress  helps  a  rainy  day." 

These  piquant  lines,  modelled  after  Mr. 
Pope's  "  Happy  Life  of  a  Country  Parson," 
were  received  by  young  Evans  thus  good- 
humoredly : 

"  I  lately  saw,  no  matter  where, 
A  parody  by  Laura  fair ; 
In  which,  beyond  dispute,  'tis  clear 
She  means  her  country  friend  to  jeer. 
For,  well  she  knows,  her  pleasing  lays, 
(Whether  they  banter  me  or  praise, 
Whatever  merry  mood  they  take,) 
Are  welcome  for  their  author's  sake." 

To  this  Laura  promptly  replied  that  the 
parson  had  no  reason  to  flatter  himself  that 
he  was  the  subject  from  which  she  had 
made  her  sketch  ;  and  thus,  the  gage  being 
thrown  down,  the  merry  war  was  waged 
through  a  number  of  sparkling  verses. 


124         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

This  graceful  little  idyl  at  Graeme  Park 
affords  a  pleasing  contrast  to  the  public 
life  of  the  time,  when  heated  political  dis 
cussions  upon  the  respective  rights  and 
wrongs  of  king  and  colonies  were  be 
ginning  to  stir  men's  minds,  North  and 
South.  Against  the  dark  background  of 
war  and  suffering  soon  to  follow,  it  stands 
out  in  the  clear  spring  air  like  a  bit  of  Ar 
cadia  transported  to  the  New  World.  So 
it  must  have  appeared  in  the  retrospect  to 
Elizabeth  Graeme,  to  whose  later  years 
many  troubles  came,  whose  marriage  to 
Hugh  Fergusson,  against  her  father's 
wishes,  seems  to  have  brought  her  little 
happiness,  and  who  solaced  her  lonely 
heart  by  her  studies  and  translations,  in 
stead  of,  like  Anne  Bradstreet,  stringing 
together  rhymes  upon  children  who  gath 
ered  around  her  knees. 


COLONIAL   DAMES. 

MRS.  KNOWLES,  the  ingenious  Quaker 
lady  who  outwitted  Dr.  Johnson  in  more 
than  one  tilt  of  words,  illustrated  her 
theories  upon  the  education  of  women 
by  citing  the  happy  consequences  of  a 
woman's  understanding  the  reason  for  the 
bursting  of  a  pudding-bag,  describing  her 
as  she  "  calms  her  maids  by  learned  dis 
quisitions  and  proceeds  to  make  a  fresh 
pudding  out  of  the  mixture ;  whereas  the 
ignorant  housewife  thinks  a  hobgoblin  is 
ii*  125 


126         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

in  the  pot,  and  gets  into  a  perfect  state 
of  flurry." 

Placing  the  question  upon  a  higher 
ground  than  pudding-making,  we  find  a 
Pennsylvania  pedagogue,  in  1765,  pro 
posing  to  teach  young  ladies  "  true  spell 
ing  with  the  rules  for  pointing  with  pro 
priety,"  urging  upon  them  not  to  be 
discouraged  on  account  of  their  age,  or 
through  fear  of  obtaining  a  spouse,  as  he 
has  had  "  the  honour  to  give  the  finishing 
stroke  in  education  to  several  of  the  re 
puted  fine  accomplished  ladies  in  New 
York,  some  of  which  were  married  within 
two,  three  and  four  years  afterwards." 
Truly  the  ambitious  instructor  proved  his 
right  to  be  patronized  ! 

All  through  the  days  of  the  settlement, 
whether  learned  or  unlearned,  women  had 
been  proving  the  superiority  of  mind  over 
matter  by  the  ingenuity  and  fertility  of 
resource  with  which  they  overcame  diffi 
culties  and  brought  comfort  out  of  chaos. 
From  that  early  and  solitary  Virginia 
witch,  Grace  Sherwood,  who  outwitted 
her  persecutors  by  swimming  when  she 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  I2/ 

was  expected  to  sink,  to  the  high-born 
and  patriotic  dames  of  North  Carolina  who 
banded  themselves  together  to  drink  a 
decoction  of  raspberry  leaves  instead  of  tea 
until  the  odious  tax  should  be  taken  off,* 
Colonial  women  faced  perils  and  difficulties 
with  unfailing  heroism  and  patience.  "  To 
find  a  way  or  make  one"  seemed  to  be 
the  motto  of  the  hour.  Danger  developed 
latent  courage,  and  emergency  seemed  to 
whet  mother-wit  to  keener  edge,  as  when 
Lydia  Darrach  set  out  upon  her  lonely  walk 
through  a  country  filled  with  the  enemy's 
troops,  or  when  Mrs.  Philip  Schuyler,  hear 
ing  that  the  British  soldiers  were  on  their 

*  This  association,  formed  in  October,  1774,  was 
presided  over  by  Mrs.  Penelope  Barker,  and  joined  by 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  King,  Mrs.  Sarah  Valentine,  Miss  Isa 
bella  Johnston,  a  sister  of  Governor  Johnston,  of  North 
Carolina,  Mrs.  Hoskins,  and  forty-six  other  women,  who 
signed  a  paper  which  read  as  follows :  "  We  the  Ladys 
of  Edenton  do  hereby  solemnly  engage  not  to  Conform 
to  that  Pernicious  Custom  of  Drinking  Tea,  or  that  we 
the  aforesaid  Ladys  will  not  promote  ye  wear  of  any 
manufacture  from  England,  untill  such  time  that  all 
Acts  which  tend  to  enslave  our  Native  Country  shall  be 
repealed  " — "  The  Historic  Tea  Party  of  Edenton,"  by 
Richard  Dillard. 


8ITY 


128    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

way  to  Schuylerville  to  secure  her  absent 
husband's  crop  of  grain,  set  fire  to  the 
fields  with  her  own  hands,  rather  than 
suffer  such  aid  and  comfort  to  fall  to  the 
share  of  the  enemy ;  or  as  when  Madam 
Hancock  ordered  all  the  stray  cows  on  the 
Common  to  be  milked  because  the  Hon 
orable  John  brought  home  to  breakfast  a 
larger  company  of  officers  than  her  larder 
could  supply.  Equally  clever  and  prompt 
to  take  advantage  of  the  situation  was 
the  Widow  Nice,  who,  when  the  British 
officers  quartered  upon  her  at  the  Rising 
Sun  Tavern  complained  of  the  butter, 
remarked  that  she  could  probably  get 
better  if  she  had  a  horse  to  ride  out  into 
the  country  in  search  of  it.  Being  pro 
vided  with  a  horse,  the  good  lady  took 
the  precaution  to  secure  some  of  her 
valuables  in  her  saddle-bags,  and,  thus 
equipped,  rode  off  upon  her  confiscated 
steed,  to  return  no  more  until  Philadelphia 
was  in  possession  of  the  Continentals. 

Well  might  Abigail  Adams  write  from 
her  Braintree  home,  where  she  lived  in 
constant  dread  of  hostilities  and  was  often 


COLONIAL    DAMES. 


in  want  of  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life, 
to  her  husband  in  Philadelphia,  who  was 
helping  to  "  usher  in  the  birth  of  a  fine 
boy,"  as  he  playfully  dubbed  the  Declara 
tion  of  '76,— 

"  And  by  the  way  in  the  new  code  of  laws,  which  I 
suppose  it  would  be  necessary  to  make,  I  desire  you  to 
remember  the  ladies,  and  be  more  generous  and  favor 
able  to  them  than  your  ancestors  were.  Do  not  put 
such  an  unlimited  power  into  the  hands  of  the  hus 
bands.  Remember  all  men  would  be  tyrants  if  they 
could.  If  particular  care  and  attention  are  not  paid  to 
the  ladies,  we  are  determined  to  foment  a  rebellion,  and 
will  not  hold  ourselves  bound  by  any  laws  in  which  we 
have  no  voice  or  representation." 

Although  these  remarks  produced  no 
effect  upon  the  worthy  framers  of  the 
Declaration,  in  which  respect  they  remind 
us  of  a  number  of  similar  manifestoes  that 
have  followed  them,  they  are  interesting 
because  of  their  independence  of  spirit, 
showing  from  what  quarter  the  wind  blew 
in  Boston  even  in  early  days. 

"  If  we  mean  to  have  heroes,  statesmen, 
and  philosophers,  we  should  have  learned 
women,"  writes  Mrs.  Adams  upon  another 


130    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

occasion,  which  looks  as  if  she  had  already 
grasped  the  favorite  theory  of  the  modern 
scientist,  that  great  men  are  usually  the 
sons  of  superior  mothers.  History  has 
presented  such  meagre  outlines  of  the 
mothers  of  the  Republic  that  we  turn  to 
letters  and  diaries  for  the  more  intimate 
touches  that  reveal  character  and  give  the 
key-note  to  the  situation;  as  when  we 
learn  that  Jane  Randolph,  the  bride  of 
Peter  Jefferson,  rode  behind  her  husband 
to  his  pioneer  home  in  the  primeval  forest, 
she  having  been  bred  in  whatever  luxury 
belonged  to  the  Colonial  life  of  Virginia ; 
or  gather  from  family  records  some  idea 
of  the  mingled  austerity  and  affection  of 
the  home  life  of  the  young  Washingtons. 
More  than  history  reveals  we  wish  to 
know  of  the  mother  who  in  girlhood  was 
the  belle  of  the  countryside,  but  who  in 
her  early  widowhood  devoted  all  her  time 
and  thought  to  the  training  of  her  chil 
dren  and  the  management  of  the  estate 
that  had  been  left  to  them. 

Although  Mary  Washington  and  Abiah 
Franklin  are  chiefly  known  to  later  gen- 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  13! 

erations  as  the  mothers  of  great  sons,  it 
is  evident  that  both  of  these  women  were 
possessed  of  strong  character  and  distinct 
individuality.     Firmness,  moderation,  and 
deep  religious  sentiment  were  leading  traits 
of  Mrs.  Washington  ;  while  Mrs.  Franklin, 
thrifty  and  hard-working,  having  at  two- 
and-twenty    undertaken    Josiah    Franklin 
with    his   brood   of  little   children,  which 
her   own    contribution  of  ten   augmented 
to    the    goodly    number   of   sixteen,    still 
found  time,  like  a  true  daughter  of  New 
England,  to  reflect  upon  theological  ques 
tions.      Dr.   Franklin  says  in  one  of   his 
letters  that  his  mother  "  grieves  that  one 
of  her   sons    is    an  Arian  and    the  other 
an  Arminian,  although  what  these  terms 
mean  I  do  not  very  well   know."       Mrs. 
Franklin  probably  knew  what  she  meant, 
and  was   decided  in  her  opinions,  having 
been  reared  in  an  atmosphere  of  theologi 
cal    discussion,   her   father,   Peter  Folger, 
being  a  scholar  and  a  man  far  in  advance 
of  his    time    in   religious    thought.     That 
the  mother  was  not  rigid  in  her  ideas  of 
life  is  evident  from  the  freedom  with  which 


132          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

her  son  tells  her  of  his  own  sayings  and 
doings  and  of  his  daughter  Sally's  learn 
ing  to  play  the  harpsichord  and  to  dance. 
Writing   to    Dr.  Franklin   soon   after   his 
election  to  the  Common  Council  of  Phila 
delphia,  Mrs.  Franklin  begs  him  "  to  look 
up  to  God  and  thank  him  for  all  his  good 
Providences,"    expressing  her  satisfaction 
that  he  is  "  so  well  respected  in  his  town 
that  they  chose"  him  "  an  Alderman,"  add 
ing,  with  a  shrewdness  not  unlike  her  son's, 
"Altho'  I  don't  know  what  it  means,  or 
what  the  better  you  will  be  of  it  besides 
the  honor." 

A  not  unworthy  daughter-in-law  of  the 
thrifty  mistress  of  the  Blue  Ball  was  Deb 
orah  Reed,  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Frank 
lin,  whose  dignity,  discretion,  and  great 
patience  during  the  long  absences  abroad 
of  her  "  dear  child"  entitle  her  to  the  respect 
and  admiration  of  those  who  revere  her 
more  brilliantly  endowed  husband.  That 
she  inspired  both  of  these  sentiments  in 
the  mind  of  the  great  philosopher  is  evi 
dent  from  various  expressions  in  his  letters. 
Writing  from  London,  in  1758,  he  says,— 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  133 

"  I  also  forgot,  among  the  china,  to  mention  a  large 
fine  jug  for  beer,  to  stand  in  the  cooler.  I  fell  in  love 
with  it  at  first  sight ;  for  I  thought  it  looked  like  a  fat 
jolly  dame,  clean  and  tidy,  with  a  neat  blue  and  white 
calico  gown  on,  good  natured  and  lovely,  and  put  me 
in  mind  of — somebody." 

This  "  somebody"  appears  again  in  some 
characteristic  verses  which  the  husband, 
not  to  be  too  chary  of  his  poetic  rhapso 
dies,  read  to  the  Junto  as  well  as  to  his 
wife: 

"  Not  a  word  of  her  face,  of  her  shape,  or  her  air, 

Or  of  flames,  or  of  darts,  you  shall  hear ; 
I  beauty  admire,  but  virtue  I  prize, 
That  fades  not  in  seventy  year. 

"  Am  I  loaded  with  care,  she  takes  off  a  large  share, 

That  the  burden  ne'er  makes  me  to  reel ; 
Does  good  fortune  arrive,  the  joy  of  my  wife 
Quite  doubles  the  pleasure  I  feel. 

"  She  defends  my  good  name,  even  when  I'm  to  blame, 

Firm  friend  as  to  man  e'er  was  given ; 
Her  compassionate  breast  feels  for  all  the  distressed, 
Which  draws  down  more  blessings  from  heaven. 
******** 

"  In  peace  and  good  order  my  household  she  guides, 

Right  careful  to  save  what  I  gain ; 
Yet  cheerfully  spends,  and  smiles  on  the  friends 
I've  the  pleasure  to  entertain. 
12 


134         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

"  Some  faults  have  we  all,  and  so  has  my  Joan, 

But  then  they're  exceedingly  small, 
And,  now  I'm  grown  used  to  them,  so  like  my  own 
I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all." 

There  are  no  complaints  or  repinings 
in  Mrs.  Franklin's  letters  to  her  husband, 
which  make  her  references  to  his  absences 
the  more  touching : 

"  Since  you  do  so  kindly  inquire  what  things  I  want, 
I  will  tell  you  that  when  Mrs.  Franklin*  came  to  town 
and  went  to  the  assembly,  Salley  had  nothing  fit  to 
wear  suitable  to  wait  on  her ;  and  as  I  never  should  have 
put  on  in  your  absence  anything  good,  I  gave  Salley 
my  new  robe  as  it  wanted  very  little  altering.  I  should 
be  glad  if  you  would  bring  me  a  plain  satin  gown,"  etc. 

After  explaining  some  household  ar 
rangements,  Mrs.  Franklin  exclaims,  as 
if  the  words  had  escaped  her  involun 
tarily,  "  O  my  child,  there  is  great  odds 
between  a  man's  being  at  home  and 
abroad ;  as  everybody  is  afraid  they  shall 
do  wrong,  so  everything  is  left  undone." 

Making  due  allowance  for  the  extrava- 

*  This  was  the  wife  of  Governor  Franklin,  daughter- 
in-law  of  Dr.  Franklin,  whose  tablet  in  St.  Paul's  Church, 
New  York,  records  many  virtues. 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  135 

gance  of  the  compliments  which  Mr. 
Black  and  Mr.  Dunton  were  wont  to  lavish 
upon  the  fair  sex,  it  is  pleasant  to  learn 
from  the  former  that  the  ladies  of  Annapo 
lis  and  Philadelphia  were  as  beautiful  as 
the  day,  and  adorned  with  all  domestic 
charms,  while  we  may  believe  that  the 
Boston  women  possessed  at  least  a  portion 
of  the  graces  with  which  Mr.  Dunton 
endowed  them.  Of  Mrs.  Robert  Breck, 
whom  he  designates  as  the  "  Flower  of 
Boston,"  his  "  Chosen  Exemplar  of  what 
a  Widow  is,"  he  says, — 

"  Madam  Brick  is  a  Gentlewoman  whofe  Head  (i.e. 
her  Husband)  has  been  cut  off,  and  yet  she  lives  and 
Walks:  But  don't  be  frighted,  for  she's  Fleih  and 
Blood  ftill,  and  perhaps  fome  of  the  fineft  that  you  ever 
faw.  She  has  fufficiently  evidenced  that  her  Love  to 
her  late  Husband  is  as  strong  as  Death,  becaufe  Death 
has  not  been  able  to  Extinguish  it." 

After  further  extolling  Madame  Breck's 
high  character,  noble  resignation,  and 
beauty  of  person  and  carriage,  which  Mr. 
Dunton  finds  devoid  of  "  the  starch'dness 
usual  amongst  the  Bostonians,  who  value 
themselves  thereby  so  much,  that  they  are 


136         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

ready  to  say  to  all  others,  Stand  off,  for  I 
am  holier  than  thou,"  he  has  the  hardi 
hood  to  confess  that  all  these  virtues  and 
charms  gave  him 

"  so  just  a  value  for  her  that  Mrs.  Green  wou'd  often 
say,  Shou'd  Iris  Dye  (which  Heaven  forbid)  there's 
none  was  fit  to  succeed  her  but  Madam  Brick  ;  But 
Mrs.  Green  was  partial,  for  my  poor  Pretences  to  secure 
vertue,  wou'd  ne'er  have  answer'd  to  her  Towring 
heighths.  'Tis  true,  Madam  Brick  did  me  the  Honour  to 
treat  me  very  kindly  at  her  House,  and  to  admit  me  often 
into  her  Converfation,  but  I  am  fure  it  was  not  on  Love's, 
but  on  Vertue's  score.  For  she  well  knows  (at  least  as 
well  as  I  do)  that  Iris  is  alive  :  And  therefore  I  muft 
justifie  her  Innocence  on  that  account.  And  tho'  some 
have  been  pleas'd  to  say,  That  were  I  in  a  (ingle  ftate, 
they  do  believe  she  wou'd  not  be  displeas'd  with  my 
Addresses,  As  this  is  without  any  ground  but  groundlefs 
Conjectures,  so  I  hope  I  shall  never  be  in  a  capacity  to 
make  a  Tryal  of  it."  * 

How  Iris  received  these  expressions  the 
journal  does  not  relate.     There  have  been 

*  This  lady,  whose  name  Mr.  Dunton  persistently 
wrote  Brick,  as  it  was  pronounced,  was  the  wife  of 
Robert  Breck,  of  the  same  family  as  the  well-known 
Mr.  Samuel  Breck.  Mrs.  Breck's  noble  resignation,  for 
which  Mr.  Dunton  commends  her,  was  further  shown 
by  her  taking  to  herself  a  second  husband,  Michael 
Perry. 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  137 

those  who  entertained  the  belief  that  Mr. 
Dunton's  mind  was  disturbed;  but,  al 
though  he  often  sails  close  to  the  wind, 
he  proves  himself  a  good  sailor  by  his 
prudence  in  preparing  for  rocks  and  shoals 
ahead,  always  prefacing  his  flattering  re 
marks  upon  the  beauties  of  Boston  by 
compliments  to  his  wife,  and  assurances 
that  the  same  charms  were  found  in  her, 
"  as  'twere  in  a  New  Edition  more  Correct 
and  enlarged:  Or  rather,  Iris  is  that 
bright  Original  which  all  good  Wives 
fhou'd  imitate." 

Although  there  were  few  who  could 
enter  the  lists  with  the  incomparable 
Madam  Breck,  Colonel  Byrd  has  left,  in 
his  diary  of  1732,  a  characteristic  sketch 
of  a  charming  Southern  widow,  Sarah 
Syme,  soon  to  become  the  wife  of  the 
young  Scotchman.  John  Henry,  and  the 
mother  of  Patrick  Henry : 

"  In  the  evening  Tinsley  conducted  me  to  Mrs.  Sym's 
house,  where  I  intended  to  take  up  my  quarters.  This 
lady,  at  first  suspecting  that  I  was  some  lover,  put  on  a 
gravity  that  becomes  a  weed ;  but  so  soon  as  she  learned 
who  I  was,  brightened  up  into  an  unusual  cheerfulness 

12* 


138         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

and  serenity.  She  was  a  portly,  handsome  dame,  of 
the  family  of  Esau,  and  seemed  not.  to  pine  too  much 
for  the  death  of  her  husband,  who  was  of  the  family  of 
the  Saracens.  This  widow  is  a  person  of  lively  and 
cheerful  conversation,  with  much  less  reserve  than  most 
of  her  countrywomen.  It  becomes  her  very  well  and 
sets  off  her  other  agreeable  qualities  to  advantage.  We 
tossed  off  a  bottle  of  honest  Port,  which  we  relished 
with  a  broiled  chicken.  At  nine  I  retired  to  my  de 
votions,  and  then  slept  so  sound  that  fancy  itself  was 
stupified,  else  I  should  have  dreamed  of  my  most 
obliging  landlady." 


In  addition  to  whatever  "  gift  of  tongues" 
Patrick  Henry  may  have  derived  from  his 
mother,  he  was,  according  to  his  latest 
biographer,  entitled  to  an  inheritance  of 
eloquence  upon  his  father's  side,  as  his 
paternal  ancestry  and  Lord  Brougham's 
can  be  traced  to  a  common  stock. 

When  full  and  detailed  letters  and  dia 
ries  have  been  preserved,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Winthrops,  Pembertons,  Morrises,  Lo 
gans,  Hopkinsons,  Byrds,  and  others,  we 
realize  our  privileges  and  scan  with  inter 
est  the  quaint  pictures  of  the  period,  sym 
pathizing  with  Mrs.  James  Pemberton  when 
she  writes  to  her  absent  husband  of  the 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  139 

British  breaking  into  the  plantation,  burning 
her  winter  firewood,  and  trampling  down 
her  vegetable  garden  ;  or  entering  into  Mrs. 
Hopkinson's  pleasure  when  her  son  Francis 
writes  her  of  the  cordial  reception  given 
him  by  his  English  relatives.  Mrs.  Hop- 
kinson  belonged  to  the  Johnsons  and 
Hydes,  the  latter  Queen  Anne's  people, 
and  Francis  Hopkinson's  letters  from 
abroad  are  full  of  interesting  details  of  life 
at  Hartlebury  Castle,  the  residence  of  his 
cousin  the  Bishop  of  Worcester,  of  English 
sayings  and  doings,  and  of  encountering 
the  Wests  and  other  friends  in  London. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  West  naturally 
entertained  many  Americans  in  their  Eng 
lish  home.  Mr.  Shewell,  a  cousin  of  Mrs. 
West,  upon  his  return  from  England  re 
lated  numerous  anecdotes  of  Mr.  West's 
famous  Sunday  dinners,  when  Englishmen 
and  distinguished  countrymen  of  his  own 
met  around  his  hospitable  board.  "  Mrs. 
West,"  he  says,  "  was  always  American  at 
heart,  never  losing  her  affection  for  her 
country  and  its  customs.  One  day,  while 
at  dinner,  a  tall  flunky  placed  a  plate  care- 


I4O         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

fully  covered  with  a  napkin  before  Mrs. 
West.  '  Don't  laugh  at  me,  Cousin  Tom  !' 
she  exclaimed,  lifting  the  napkin  and  re 
vealing  a  collection  of  corn-cobs.  '  These 
are  the  result  of  my  endeavor  to  grow 
green  corn  in  our  hot-house;  but  I  had 
the  cobs  boiled  to  get  the  smell,  anyhow.'  " 
Mrs.  West  was  a  Philadelphia  Quakeress, 
as  was  her  kinswoman,  the  mother  of  Leigh 
Hunt.  Of  his  mother's  loveliness  of  char 
acter  the  poet  writes  with  enthusiasm, 
while  Mrs.  West  seems  to  have  possessed 
a  charm  and  vivacity  all  her  own.  A 
painting  by  Benjamin  West,  recently  dis 
covered  in  a  family  garret,  represents  his 
wife  with  her  child  in  her  arms,  the  cos 
tume  and  position  evidently  in  imitation  of 
the  old  masters.  West  was  an  early  patron 
of  the  younger  artist,  John  Singleton  Cop 
ley,  whose  star,  then  rising,  was  destined 
to  eclipse  that  of  his  patron.  A  quaint 
little  sketch  of  Master  Copley*  and  his 

*  This  little  boy  was  afterwards  made  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst,  and  was  twice  Lord  Chancellor  of  England.  His 
daughter,  the  Hon.  Sophia  Copley,  married  Mr.  Hamil 
ton  Beckett,  thus  uniting,  after  many  years  of  residence 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  14! 

sister  is  to  be  found  among  West's  draw 
ings,  while  the  charming  face  of  Mrs.  Cop 
ley  appears  in  a  number  of  her  husband's 
paintings,    especially    in     his     Scriptural 
scenes.      Mrs.    Copley,    like    Mrs.    West, 
was  an  ideal  artist's  wife,  combining  grace 
and  beauty  with  strong  New  England  com 
mon  sense  and  executive  ability.    To  the 
brush  of  Copley  we  are  indebted  for  such  in 
teresting  portraits  of  Colonial  women  as  that 
of  the  beautiful  Lady  Wentworth,  in  which 
appears  the  flying  squirrel,  which  seems  to 
have  been  as  great  a  favorite  with  Copley 
as  was  the  King  Charles  spaniel  with  Van 
Dyck ;    and  that  of  Mrs.  Samuel  Alleyne 
Otis,  in  the  dress  of  a  shepherdess,  fair 
enough   to   have  won   the   heart   of  any 
number  of  Florizels,  and,  like  Perdita,  to 
have  drawn  her  sheep  to  "  leave  grazing, 
and  only  live  by  gazing." 

Among  Benjamin  West's  earlier  por 
traits  is  that  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Hopkinson, 
which  now  hangs  in  the  rooms  of  the 


abroad,  these  two  distinguished  American  families,  the 
Hamiltons  and  the  Copleys. 


142         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the 
company  of  her  son  and  her  son's  son,  the 
latter,  Joseph  Hopkinson,  author  of  "  Hail 
Columbia,"  surrounded  by  fair  daugh 
ters  and  daughters-in-law.  One  of  the 
most  attractive  figures  in  this  group  is 
Mary  Hopkinson,  wife  of  Dr.  John  Mor 
gan.  A  lady  in  fanciful  attire  with  a  man 
dolin  in  her  hand— the  Hopkinsons  were 
then,  as  now,  a  musical  race — is  what  the 
painting  reveals,  while  from  her  numer 
ous  letters  we  can  form  some  idea  of  the 
frank,  observing,  and  vivacious  young 
woman,  of  whom  her  husband  writes  to 
his  mother-in-law  in  1775,  describing  their 
journey  from  Philadelphia  to  Cambridge, — 

"  Had  Mrs.  Morgan  been  a  Princess  she  might  have 
been  received  with  Pomp  and  Magnificence,  but  not 
with  a  heartier  welcome,  were  even  her  own  Mamma, 
the  Queen  Mother,  to  receive  us,  than  our  relations 
have  given  us,  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clifford  *  and  Mr. 

*  Probably  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Clifford,  whose 
country  place,  Rocky  Point,  on  the  Delaware,  nearly 
opposite  Burlington,  was  so  frequently  visited  by  those 
gay  girls,  the  Misses  Guest  and  Miss  Sarah  Eve.  The 
Misses  Guest  were  nieces  of  Mrs.  Clifford. 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  143 

and  Mrs  Kirkbride.  She  is  an  excellent  companion  at 
all  times,  but  if  possible  excells  herself  on  the  road. 
She  is  full  of  spirits.  Our  horses  are  gentle  as  lambs 
and  yet  perform  most  admirably  and  we  are  truly  happy 
that  notwithstanding  the  rain,  she  escaped  getting  wet. 
It  would  delight  you  to  get  a  glimpse  of  us  just  now, 
Col.  Kirkbride  at  the  violin  and  she  at  the  harpsichord 
and  sings  most  blithely  and  most  sweetly." 

Dr.  John  Morgan  was  appointed  Di 
rector-General  of  Hospitals  and  Physi- 
cian-in-Chief  to  the  army  in  1775,  and  it 
was  upon  this  long  and  fatiguing  journey 
that  the  husband  and  wife  set  forth  so 
cheerfully.  In  one  of  her  letters  Mrs. 
Morgan  begs  her  mother  to  write  to  her  as 
often  as  possible,  advising  her  to  send  her 
letters  to  Miss  Morris,  Mrs.  Mifflin's  sister, 
who  had  told  her  that  "  there  would  be  an 
opportunity  every  three  days."  Of  their 
reception  at  Cambridge  she  writes  that 
there  came 

"  six  or  eight  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  faculty  to  wait 
upon  Dr.  Morgan  and  escort  us  to  the  Camp,  some  of 
them  on  horse  back  and  some  of  them  in  carriages.  I 
do  assure  you  we  had  no  small  cavalcade.  My  good 
friend  Mrs.  Mifflin  met  us  on  the  way  in  her  chariot 
and  conducted  us  to  her  house,  where  we  are  to  stay  till 
we  are  settled  in  one  of  our  own.  You  may,  my  dear 


144         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Mamma,  depend  upon  hearing  from  me  by  every  op 
portunity,  and  that  very  particularly  but  it  must  be  a 
private  one  for  I  do  not  intend  to  put  you  to  expense  of 
postage.  Since  I  have  begun  this  letter  I  have  had  the 
honour  of  a  visit  from  4  Generals,  Genl.  Washington, 
Gen.  Putnam,  Gen.  Gates  &  Gen.  Lee,  while  they  were 
here  a  very  interesting  scene  happened.  There  ar 
rived  an  express  of  a  Brig  being  taken  belonging  to  the 
enemy  by  one  of  our  vessels,  it  is  a  valuable  prize  as  it 
was  loaded  with  arms  and  ammunition,  what  delighted 
me  excessively  was  seeing  the  pleasure  which  shone  in 
every  countenance  particularly  Gen.  Gates's  he  was  in 
an  ecstacy,  and  as  Genl.  Washington  was  reading  the 
invoice  there  was  scarce  an  article  that  he  did  not  com 
ment  upon  and  that  with  so  much  warmth  as  diverted 
everyone  present." 

Mrs.  Morgan  seems  to  have  possessed 
the  happy  faculty  of  extracting  pleasure 
and  sweetness  from  all  situations,  conse 
quently  we  find  little  or  nothing  in  her 
letters  of  the  privations  of  her  camp  life 
at  Cambridge. 

Mrs.  John  Adams  speaks  of  calling 
upon  Mrs.  Morgan,  who,  she  says,  "  keeps 
at  Major  Mifflin's,"  adding  that  she  had 
the  pleasure  of  drinking  coffee  with  Dr. 
Morgan  and  his  lady  and  the  Major  and 
Mrs.  Mifflin,  "  always  having  been  an  ad- 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  145 

mirer  of  the  latter  and  his  delicate  lady." 
This  visiting  and  paying  of  compliments, 
and  gossiping  over  dishes  of  tea  and  coffee 
take  us  back  into  the  heart  of  that  old- 
time  life.     Even  the  grim  face  of  war  is 
sometimes  made  to  present  a  holiday  side, 
as  when  the  officers  had  a  tea-drinking,  or 
when  Mrs.  Morgan  witnessed  a  review  of 
the    battalions.     This    last   she  describes 
most  graphically,  even  to  giving  the  colors 
of  the  different  uniforms.     Among  others, 
she  speaks  of  a  company  composed  entirely 
of  young  Quakers,  who  were  arrayed  in  a 
light  blue  uniform  turned  up  with  white. 
The  "  Light  Infantry"  she  finds  "  as  corn- 
pleat  a  company  as  can  be,  all  gentlemen 
and  most  of  them  young  fellows  and  very 
handsome,  my  neighbor  Cadwalader  Cap 
tain,  and  my  brother,  George  Morgan,  first 
Lieutenant."    Silas  Deane's  acco  unt  of  this 
battalion    of  Associators,    known    as    the 
"  Greens"  and  commanded  by  John  Cad 
walader,  agrees  with  that  of  Mrs.  Morgan. 
He   says    that  they  wore  green  uniforms 
faced  with  buff,  their  hat  a  hunter's  cap, 
and  "  were  without  exception  the  genteel- 

G  k  I3 


146    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

est  companies",  he  had  ever  seen.  Of  the 
Light  Horse,  later  known  as  the  Philadel 
phia  City  Troop,  Mrs.  Morgan  writes, — 

"  Lastly  come  the  '  Light  Horse,'  Mr.  Markoe  their 
Captain — there  is  only  five  and  twenty  of  them  as  yet 
but  really  they  look  exceedingly  well,  you  would  be 
surprised  to  see  how  well  the  horses  are  trained  for  the 
little  time  they  have  exercised,  in  short  they  all  did 
exceedingly  well  and  made  a  most  martial  appearance, 
what  did  not  a  little  inspire  them  was  the  presence  of 
a  great  number  of  the  genteelest  people  of  the  place, 
among  whom  was  collected  the  most  pretty  girls  I  have 
seen  this  long  time." 

"  I  shall  not  put  off  writing  because  I 
happen  not  to  be  just  as  merry  as  a  grig," 
says  Mrs.  Morgan  to  her  sister.  Yet 
through  all  her  letters  there  runs  a  charm 
ing  vein  of  vivacity  and  gayety  of  heart 
which  are  in  striking  contrast  to  the  sad 
tone  of  a  letter  from  Francis  Hopkinson 
to  his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Samuel  Coale, 
of  Baltimore,  in  which  he  tells  him  of  the 
death  and  burial  of  this  much-loved  sister. 
"  She  was  buried,"  he  says,  "  under  the 
floor  of  St.  Peter's  Church  near  to  the 
remains  of  Mr.  Duche's  children.  The 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  147 

morning  was  snowy  and  severely  cold  and 
the  walking  very  dangerous  and  slippery, 
nevertheless  a  number  of  respectable  citi 
zens  attended  the  funeral,  and  the  pall  was 
borne  by  the  first  ladies  of  the  place." 

This  custom  of  young  girls  and  women 
acting  as  pall-bearers  is  often  alluded  to  in 
journals  of  the  day.  When  Mrs.  Daniel 
Phoenix,  of  New  York,  wife  of  the  City 
Treasurer,  was  buried,  her  pall-bearers  were 
women,  and  Miss  Sarah  Eve,  in  her  diary, 
written  in  Philadelphia  in  1772  and  '73, 
remarks  in  her  usual  independent  and  vi 
vacious  manner,  "  B.  Rush,  P.  Dunn,  K. 
Vaughan  and  myself  carried  Mr.  Ash's 
child  to  be  buried;  foolish  custom  for 
Girls  to  prance  it  through  the  streets  with 
out  hats  or  bonnets  !"*  Miss  Eve  says  noth 
ing  about  wearing  a  veil,  although  we  read 

*  A  curious  incident  is,  that  while  reading  the  above, 
in  1890,  a  brother  of  the  child  buried  in  1772,  Mr. 
John  Morgan  Ash,  came  into  the  rooms  of  the  Histori 
cal  Society  of  Pennsylvania.  To  give  authority  to  this 
statement,  it  may  be  well  to  explain  that  the  father  of 
this  sister  and  brother  of  such  different  ages— Colonel 
Ash,  of  the  Revolution — was  born  in  1750,  was  married 


148         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

elsewhere  of  the  girl  pall-bearers  being 
dressed  in  white  and  wearing  long  white 
veils,  as  at  the  funeral  of  Fanny  Durdin 
in  1812. 

Occasionally,  as  if  to  prove  to  us  that 
our  dear  grandmothers  enjoyed  them 
selves,  girlish  laughter  and  frolic  illuminate 
the  pages  of  some  old  record,  and  we  read 
of  merry-makings  or  love-makings  that 
beguiled  the  passing  hour,  as  when  young 
Mr.  Porter's  best  man  stole  away  his  fair 
bride,  Elizabeth  Pitkin,  or  from  a  letter 
of  Mrs.  Edward  Carrington,  of  Virginia, 
learn  how  her  sister,  Mary  Ambler,  capti 
vated  the  learned  Chief-Justice  Marshall, 
whose  wife  she  afterwards  became. 

"  Our  expectations  were  raised  to  the  highest  pitch, 
and  the  little  circle  of  York  was  on  tiptoe  on  his  ar 
rival.  Our  girls  particularly,  were  emulous  who  should 
be  the  first  introduced ;  it  is  remarkable  that  my  sister, 
then  only  fourteen  and  diffident  beyond  all  others,  de- 


three  times,  and  had  twenty-four  children.  The  baby 
which  Miss  Eve  helped  to  carry  to  its  grave  in  1772  was 
born  when  Colonel  Ash  was  twenty  or  twenty-one,  while 
Mr.  John  Morgan  Ash,  a  child  of  the  third  marriage, 
was  born  early  in  the  present  century. 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  149 

clared  that  we  were  giving  ourselves  useless  trouble, 
for  that  she,  for  the  first  time,  had  made  up  her  mind  to 
go  to  the  ball  (though  she  had  not  even  been  to  dancing- 
school),  and  was  resolved  to  set  her  cap  at  him  and 
eclipse  us  all.  This  in  the  end  proved  true,  and  at  the 
first  introduction  he  became  devoted  to  her." 

In  the  diary  of  Lucinda  of  Virginia, 
who  writes  to  her  dear  Marcia  from  "  Bush- 
field"  and  "  The  Wilderness,"  we  hear  of 
country  visits,  tea-drinkings,  and  all  the 
pleasant  sociability  that  belonged  to  life  in 
the  Old  Dominion.  She  wept  over  "  Lady 
Julia  Mandeville,"  this  tender-hearted  Lu 
cinda,  until  her  eyes  were  so  red  that 
she  was  ashamed  to  see  her  beaux,  and 
then,  although  she  had  "  but  little  time 
to  smart  herself,"  she  "  craped"  her  hair, 
put  on  a  "  Great-Coat,"  and  considered 
herself  "  drest."  She  tells  Marcia  that 
one  evening  she  and  Milly  Washington 
were  "minded  to  eat"  after  they  had 
decorously  retired  to  their  rooms  for  the 
night,  and,  having  taxed  their  digestions 
with  a  dish  of  bacon  and  beef,  followed 
by  a  bowl  of  sago  cream,  were  about 
to  enter  upon  the  delights  of  a  nocturnal 
"  apple  pye,"  when  Mr.  Corbin  Washing- 


I5O          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES, 

ton,  in  his  wife's  short  gown  and  petticoat, 
and  Mrs.  Washington,  in  her  husband's 
coat,  burst  in  upon  the  scene  and  gave  the 
youthful  revellers  a  fine  fright,  after  which 
they  all  settled  down  to  enjoy  the  "apple 
pye"  together.  Elsewhere  the  same 
chronicler  tells  of  Mr.  Newton  having 
received  "  his  discard"  from  her  cousin 
Nancy,  and,  with  never  a  regret  for  the 
disappointed  lover,  gleefully  relates  that 
he  could  not  tell  the  difference  between 
"  The  Belle's  Stratagem"  and  "  The  Coun 
try  Cousin"  when  read  in  the  distracting 
presence  of  Miss  Nancy.  They  were  sad 
coquettes  in  their  youth,  these  fair  dames, 
although  they  look  so  demure  in  their 
portraits,  and  proved  such  exemplary  wives 
and  mothers  in  later  years.  Duels  and 
despairing  lovers  seem  scarcely  to  have 
ruffled  the  serenity  of  their  lovely  counte 
nances,  or  to  have  made  their  hearts  beat 
faster  under  their  stiff  bodices.  Did  they 
realize,  with  a  wisdom  beyond  their  years, 
that  heart-breaks  were  not  of  necessity 
fatal  ?  Yet  how  crushed  and  bruised  the 
poor  hearts  seemed ! 


COLONIAL    DAMES.  15! 

Thomas  Jefferson,  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
filled  his  letters  to  his  friend,  John  Page, 
with  rhapsodies  upon  the  form  and  face  of 
his  "  Belinda,"  humbly  prays  for  another 
watch  paper  cut  by  her  hands,  and  calls 
upon  Providence  to  sustain  him  through 
the  trial  should  she  refuse  him  at  the  next 
Apollo  ball,  where  he  designs  putting  his 
fate  to  the  touch.  That  he  lost  we  know, 
as  Rebecca  Burwell,  his  "  Belinda,"  soon 
after  became  the  wife  of  Jacqueline  Ambler, 
of  Virginia;  and  although  Jefferson  felt, 
poor  lad,  that  from  him  the  joys  of  life 
had  fled  forever,  it  was  not  long  before  he 
recovered  and  became  the  devoted  lover 
of  Martha  Skelton,  who  made  Monticello 
an  earthly  paradise  to  her  young  husband 
during  the  brief  period  of  their  married 
life.  Another  beautiful  Miss  Burwell,  also 
of  Williamsburg,  turned  the  head  of  an 
earlier  Virginia  statesman,  Francis  Nichol 
son,  who,  like  an  Eastern  sultan  rather 
than  a  Colonial  governor,  proposed  to  cut 
the  throats  of  his  rival,  of  the  clergyman 
who  performed  the  ceremony,  and  of  the 
justice  who  issued  the  license. 


152         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

"  C'est  1'amour,  c'est  1'amour 
Qui  tourne  le  monde  ronde !" 

It  seems  as  if  the  old  couplet  had  been 
singing  itself  down  all  the  years  to  assure 
us  that  these  grandmothers  and  grand 
fathers  of  ours,  with  all  their  wisdom  and 
sacrifice  and  devotion  to  duty,  were  capa 
ble  of  the  same  endearing  follies  that  be 
long  to  their  children  of  to-day. 


OLD   LANDMARKS. 

TREADING  the  stone  floors  of  old  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  under  which  lie 
buried  early  governors  of  Pennsylvania 
and  soldiers  of  Colonial  times,  we  can  pic 
ture  to  ourselves  President  Washington, 
stately  little  Lady  Washington,  and  lovely 
Nellie  Custis,  preceded  by  their  footman, 
entering  the  church  to  take  their  places  in 
the  pew  reserved  for  them  between  those 
of  Bishop  White  and  Dr.  Franklin.  Sit 
ting  in  the  Washington  pew,  in  Christ 


154          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Church  at  Alexandria,  where  the  General 
was  a  vestryman,  the  spare  form  and  intel 
lectual  face  of  the  present  rector  under  the 
sounding-board  recall  Seba  Smith's  lines, — 

"  That  sounding  board,  to  me  it  seemed 

A  cherub  poised  on  high — 
A  mystery  I  almost  deemed 

Quite  hid  from  vulgar  eye  ; 
And  that  old  pastor,  wrapt  in  prayer, 
Looked  doubly  awful  'neath  it  there." 

In  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  once 
called  King's  Chapel,  the  tombs  and  me 
morials  of  early  American  bishops  and 
heroes  almost  cause  us  to  overlook  the  fact 
that  but  one  stone  remains  of  the  original 
building ;  while  in  the  older  church  of  St. 
Paul's,  one  remembers  that  William  Vesey, 
reared  upon  the  stern  doctrine  of  Increase 
Mather,  turned  aside  from  that  especial  way 
of  righteousness  to  preach  here  as  early 
as  1704.  Farther  north,  in  a  region  long 
inhospitable  to  churches,  Cotton  Mather 
having  announced  that  he  "  found  no  just 
ground  in  Scripture  to  apply  such  a  trope 
as  church  to  a  public  assembly,"  we  find 
our  way  through  the  winding  streets  of  old 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  155 

Salem  to  the  first  meeting-house,  erected 
in  1634,  only  two  years  after  that  of  Smith- 
field,  Virginia.  As  severe  and  unadorned 
in  its  architecture  as  the  religious  life  of 
its  founders  is  this  little  building,  which 
proclaims  with  a  certain  force  the  doctrine 
for  which  they  contended, — the  right  of 
man  to  seek  his  God  and  serve  Him  ac 
cording  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience. 
We  turn  from  Boston's  "  Old  South,"  long 
the  stronghold  of  Puritanism,  to  Christ 
Church,  called  the  "  Old  North,"  from 
which  the  signal  lantern  was  hung  aloft  in 
the  belfry  arch  on  the  night  of  April  18, 
1775  ;  or,  wandering  through  the  aisles  of 
King's  Chapel,  pause  before  the  governor's 
pew  to  remember  that  General  Washington 
worshipped  here  long  before  the  Revolu 
tion,*  or  notice  the  square  pew,  once 
adorned  with  the  royal  arms  of  England, 


*  Colonel  Washington  went  to  Boston  in  1756,  ac 
companied  by  Captain  George  Mercer,  to  confer  with 
General  Shirley  with  reference  to  the  precedence  in 
military  rank  between  crown  and  provincial  commis 
sions. — "  Early  Sketches  of  George  Washington,"  by 
William  S.  Baker. 


156         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

which  was  in  Colonial  days  reserved  for 
any  member  of  the  Hanover  family  who 
might  be  pleased  to  cross  the  water  to  visit 
his  American  subjects.  Worshipping  to 
day  in  such  ancient  churches  as  are  left  to 
this  generation,  or  reading  familiar  names 
from  the  tablets  upon  their  walls,  or  from 
the  headstones  in  their  graveyards,  that 
old  life  seems  so  near  our  own,  so  knit  to 
it  by  strands  of  religious  faith  and  domes 
tic  association,  that  we  can  almost  see  the 
stately  throng  of  men  and  women  as  they 
once  passed  through  the  doors  and  along 
the  aisles  to  their  pews.  The  ladies  are 
stiff  in  satin,  brocade  and  buckram,  and 
yet  not  too  rigid  to  send  forth  bewilder 
ing  glances  from  beneath  their  overshad 
owing  plumed  hats  upon  the  cavaliers  who 
attend  them,  and  who  are  as  brave  as  they 
in  their  picturesque  costumes,  rich  with 
lace  and  embroidery.  Even  in  New  Eng 
land,  with  all  the  preaching  and  legislating 
against  silk,  lace,  embroideries,  cut-works, 
and  slashed  garments,  human  nature  pre 
vailed.  The  Abbe  Robin  remarked,  in 
view  of  the  gaudy  dress  of  the  women  in 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  157 

church,  that  it  was  the  only  theatre  that 
they  had  for  the  display  of  their  finery, 
while  we  with  equal  indulgence  may  par 
don  those  fair  ones  of  the  olden  time  who 
allowed  their  eyes  to  wander  in  the  pauses 
of  devotion  toward  the  Governor's  pew 
where  Madam,  recently  returned  from  a 
visit  to  her  English  relatives,  was  seated, 
resplendent  in  the  latest  London  modes. 

Mr.  Bynner  has  given  us  a  picture  of  the 
first  appearance  of  Agnes  Surriage  and  Sir 
Henry  Frankland  at  church  together,  the 
occasion  being  the  funeral  service  of 
Madam  Shirley,  the  kindly  and  generous 
friend  of  the  fisherman's  daughter  from 
Marblehead.  Induced  to  appear  in  public 
with  her  lover  through  her  strong  affec 
tion  for  her  benefactress,  Agnes,  in  deep 
mourning,  takes  her  place  in  a  pew  near 
that  of  the  governor  and  his  children,  where 
she  is  soon  made  to  feel  the  bitter  scorn 
of  the  high-born  dames  who  had  once  de 
lighted  to  heap  compliments  upon  her 
beauty,  while  Sir  Henry  finds  that  he  is 
powerless  to  defend  the  shrinking  girl  from 
the  insolent  glances  of  his  comrades.  These 
14 


158         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

picturesque  figures  in  the  quaint  setting  of 
King's  Chapel  form  a  striking  and  impres 
sive  scene  worthy  of  the  pen  which  has 
portrayed  it  for  this  generation.  Near 
Christ  Church  is  still  shown  the  house  at 
the  corner  of  Tileston  Street,  where  Agnes 
dwelt  under  the  roof  of  the  austere  widow, 
and  where  she  tended  the  little  garden 
which,  from  its  luxuriant  growth  of  rare 
flowers  and  plants,  was  the  wonder  of  the 
neighborhood. 

Strolling  through  another  and  far  more 
spacious  garden  upon  the  banks  of  the  Po 
tomac,  whose  box-bordered  beds  and  trim 
parterres  tell  of  the  French  gardener  who 
laid  out  the  grounds  of  Mount  Vernon,  or 
standing  upon  the  high  bluff,  where  Wash 
ington  must  often  have  stood  to  enjoy  the 
lovely  sweep  of  the  shining  river,  we  can 
form  some  idea  of  the  beauty  and-seclusion 
that  surrounded  the  home  life  of  the  stately 
but  simple-hearted  Virginia  gentleman  and 
gentlewoman.  "  There,"  says  the  gar- 
dener,  "  are  some  fine  tulip-  and  ash-trees 
planted  by  the  General,  here  are  some 
hydrangeas  that  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  159 

brought  with  him  in  1824,  and  here  is  the 
rose-bush  beside  which  Lawrence  Lewis 
proposed  to  Nellie  Custis,"  adding,  "  The 
negroes  call  it  the  magic  rose,  as  it  is  sup 
posed  to  insure  the  success  of  the  most 
unpromising  love-affair." 

Such  associations  bring  the  old  life  be 
fore  us  with  a  sudden  crowding  upon  the 
canvas  of  historic  scenes  and  figures.    The 
long,  low  house,  elegant  with  all  its  sim 
plicity,   covered  less   ground   in   Colonial 
times  than  it  now  does.     In  early  days  it 
was  the  home  of  Captain  Lawrence  Wash 
ington,  who  named  his  Virginia  plantation 
after  Admiral  Vernon,  under  whom  he  had 
served  in   the  English  expedition  against 
Cartagena,  and  for  whom  he  ever  enter 
tained  a  warm  friendship.     A  painting  of 
Admiral  Vernon  before  Cartagena,  given 
to  Lawrence  Washington  by  the  admiral 
in    recognition  of  this    friendship,  is   still 
hanging  over  one  of  the  mantels  of  Mount 
Vernon,   where   is   also   a  portrait  of  the 
handsome,  dark-eyed  owner  of  the  estate. 
Its    mistress,   in   those    days,    was   Anne, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  William  Fairfax,  who 


l6o         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

occupied  the  position  of  collector  of  cus 
toms  in  Salem  and  Marblehead  before  he 
came  to  Belvoir,  Virginia,  to  become  presi 
dent  of  the  Council  of  that  State.  Mrs. 
Washington,  the  mother  of  George  and 
the  step-mother  of  Lawrence,  is  now  at 
Mount  Vernon  more  frequently,  perchance, 
than  under  its  later  mistress,  there  having 
existed  a  friendship  of  long  standing,  if 
not  a  family  connection,  between  the 
Washingtons  and  the  Fairfaxes.  George 
is  coming  and  going,  like  a  child  of  the 
house,  between  his  long  surveying  expedi 
tions  for  Lord  Fairfax  in  the  western  wilds, 
where,  if  there  were  often  no  knives  upon 
the  table  "  to  eat  with,"  there  seems  always 
to  have  been  a  pen  with  which  to  record 
the  experiences  of  the  day.  A  great  fa 
vorite  with  the  owner  of  Mount  Vernon, 
and  destined  to  be  his  heir,  is  the  tall  strip 
ling,  whose  face  and  form  give  promise  of 
the  distinguished  presence  that  was  later 
to  command  respect  at  home  and  abroad. 
Something  strangely  interesting  there  is 
in  all  that  relates  to  the  youth  of  Wash 
ington,  whether  in  his  mother's  home,  or 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  l6l 

at  Mount  Vernon,  or  as  the  welcome  guest 
of  old  Lord  Fairfax  at  Greenway  Court  in 
the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

Although  heavy  responsibilities  were 
placed  upon  these  young  shoulders,  it  is 
pleasant  to  know  that  Washington  often 
joined  in  fox-hunts,  a  favorite  pastime  of 
the  Virginia  gentry,  and  also  that  he  was 
as  capable  of  "  sighing  like  a  furnace"  as 
any  other  love-struck  swain.  At  seven 
teen  he  wrote  to  his  "  dear  Friend  Robin," 
from  Belvoir, 

"  I  might,  was  my  heart  disengag'd,  pass  my  time 
very  pleasantly  as  there's  a  very  agreeable  Young  Lady 
Lives  in  the  same  house  (Col°  George  Fairfax's  Wife's 
Sister)  but  as  thats  only  adding  Fuel  to  fire  it  makes 
me  more  uneasy  for  by  often  and  unavoidably  being  in 
Company  with  her  revives  my  former  Passion  for  your 
Low  Land  Beauty  whereas  was  I  to  live  more  retired 
from  Young  Women  I  might  in  some  measure  eliviate 
my  sorrows  by  burying  that  chast  and  troublesome  Pas 
sion  in  the  grave  of  oblivion  or  eternall  forgetfulness, 
...  as  I  am  well  convinced  was  I  ever  to  attempt 
any  thing  I  should  only  get  a  denial  which  would  be 
only  adding  grief  to  uneasiness." 

The  modesty  of  this  effusion  certainly 
adds  to  its  attractiveness ;  and  as  for  the 
/  14* 


1 62         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

spelling — vowels  and  consonants  seem,  in 
those  days,  to  have  been  used  in  hap-hazard 
fashion  by  older  writers  than  those  of  sev 
enteen  years.  That  Washington  could  not 
have  mourned  very  long  over  this  "  chast 
and  troublesome  Passion/'  whose  object  is 
supposed  to  have  been  Miss  Lucy  Grymes, 
afterwards  the  mother  of  General  Henry 
Lee,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
beginning  to  find  "  the  Young  Lady  in  the 
house,"  Miss  Mary  Gary,  very  agreeable ; 
while  that  he  did  not  practise  his  theory 
of  living  "  retired  from  Young  Women"  is 
proved  by  subsequent  experiences. 

A  New  York  house  that  naturally  links 
itself  in  thought  with  Mount  Vernon  is 
the  old  Philipse  Manor,  where  Mary  Phil- 
ipse  spent  her  early  days.  Here  the 
Philipses  presided  for  generations  over 
vast  estates  in  the  counties  of  Westches- 
ter,  Dutchess,  and  Putnam,  being  known 
among  their  tenantry  as  the  Junkers  (pro 
nounced  Yonkers),  or  gentlemen  par  ex 
cellence ',  to  which  title  the  town  of  Yonkers, 
that  gradually  grew  up  around  the  old 
manor-house,  owes  its  name. 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  163 

This  was  the  home  of  her  childhood, 
but  it  was  at  the  house  of  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Beverly  Robinson,  that  Mary  Philipse  met 
Colonel  Washington.  The  history  of  this 
rather  shadowy  love-affair  has  never  been 
fully  told,  although  frequently  referred  to. 
Mr.  Irving's  explanation  is  that  the  young 
soldier,  ever  alert  in  the  path  of  duty, 
quitted  too  soon  the  lists  of  love  for  those 
of  war,  thus  leaving  the  field  to  his  rival, 
Colonel  Morris.  In  support  of  this  theory, 
Mr.  Irving  remarks  upon  the  great  des 
patch  with  which  Washington  conducted 
his  wooing  of  the  widow  Custis,  soon  after, 
as  if  "  he  feared,  should  he  leave  the  mat 
ter  in  suspense,  some  more  enterprising 
rival  might  supplant  him  during  his  ab 
sence,  as  in  the  case  of  Miss  Philipse,  at 
New  York."  With  due  respect  to  Mr. 
Irving,  it  does  not  seem  consistent  with 
the  character  of  Washington  to  turn  aside 
so  readily  from  the  pursuit  of  anything 
that  he  greatly  desired ;  and  from  the 
fact  that  Miss  Philipse  so  soon  after  mar 
ried  Colonel  Morris,  it  is  more  natural  to 
conclude  that  her  affections  were  engaged 


164    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

before  she  met  the  young  Virginian.  There 
being  no  positive  data  on  the  subject,  and 
the  spirit  of  a  love-affair  being  about  as 
difficult  to  transmit  from  one  generation 
to  another  as  the  tone  of  a  voice  or  the 
glance  of  an  eye,  we  feel  free  to  put  upon 
the  affair  the  construction  that  detracts 
least  from  the  dignity  of  the  American 
hero.  After  her  marriage,  Mary  Philipse 
lived  in  the  home  which  Colonel  Morris 
built  upon  a  high  bank  of  the  Harlem 
River,  about  a  mile  from  the  site  of  old 
Fort  Washington,  one  of  the  most  pic 
turesque  spots  upon  the  island.  This 
house,  still  standing  and  in  good  preser 
vation,  a  fine  example  of  a  Colonial  resi 
dence,  was  long  known  as  the  Roger  Mor 
ris  and  later  as  the  Jumel  House.  The 
best  view  of  the  mansion  is  to  be  had  from 
the  river-drive  near  One  Hundred  and 
Sixty-First  Street,  while  from  the  portico 
there  is  a  fine  prospect  of  the  Harlem  River 
and  of  the  great  city  which  has  grown  up 
around  it  since  its  erection  in  1 758.  Strange 
to  relate,  Washington  made  his  head-quar 
ters  here  while  engaged  in  military  opera- 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  1 $ 

tions  around  New  York  in  the  autumn  of 
1776,  and  barely  escaped  capture  in  the 
home  of  his  former  friends,  as  the  British 
troops  took  possession  of  the  premises  a 
half-hour  after  the  American  General  had 
vacated  them.  Here  also  General  Knyp- 
hausen,  unused  to  such  surroundings,  if  we 
are  to  believe  the  strange  tales  told  of  his 
spreading  the  butter  on  his  bread  with  his 
fingers,  and  of  other  eccentricities  at  table, 
had  his  head-quarters  during  the  British 
occupation  of  New  York. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  property  of 
Colonel  Morris  was  confiscated  and  the 
house  was  for  a  time  an  inn,  where  par 
ties  from  New  York  were  entertained. 
Once  again  General  (then  President)  Wash 
ington  visited  the  old  mansion,  as  he  re 
cords  in  his  diary  of  July  10,  1790: 

"  Having  formed  a  Party  consisting  of  the  Vice- 
President  [John  Adams],  his  lady  and  Son  and  Miss 
Smith,  the  Secretaries  of  State,  Treasury  and  War 
[Thomas  Jefferson,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  General 
Knox]  and  the  ladies  of  the  two  latter,  with  all  the 
gentlemen  of  my  family,  Mrs.  Lear  and  the  two  chil 
dren,  we  visited  the  old  position  of  Fort  Washington, 
and  afterwards  dined  on  a  dinner  provided  by  Mr. 


1 66         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Mariner,  at  the  house  lately  of  Colonel  Morris,  but  con 
fiscated  and  in  the  possession  of  a  common  Farmer." 


The  house  later  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Stephen  Jumel,  who  with  his  wife,  gay 
Madame  Jumel,  lived  here  in  great  state 
and  luxury,  driving  their  carriage  drawn 
by  eight  horses,  and  giving  entertainments 
as  celebrated  for  their  sumptuousness  and 
luxury  as  were  those  of  Madam  Rush 
of  Philadelphia  at  a  later  date.  Here 
Stephen  Jumel  died,  and  here  occurred  that 
strangest  of  weddings,  when  Aaron  Burr, 
refused  again  and  again  by  Madame  Ju 
mel,  appeared  at  her  door  one  day,  ac 
companied  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bogart,  and 
insisted  upon  marrying  her.  Why  the  lady 
consented  it  is  difficult  to  discover,  unless 
Aaron  Burr  at  seventy-eight  still  retained 
some  of  the  attractions  that  had  rendered 
him  irresistible  at  an  earlier  age.  Upon 
one  occasion,  at  her  own  home,  Colonel 
Burr  had,  in  handing  Madame  Jumel  in  to 
dinner,  said,  "  I  give  you  my  hand,  ma- 
dame  ;  my  heart  has  long  been  yours." 

The  guests  probably  looked   upon  the 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  1 67 

expressions  of  the  elderly  man  of  fashion 
as  withered  flowers  of  speech  natural  to 
one  who  had  passed  his  youth  in  an  age 
of  extravagant  compliment,  and  great  sur 
prise  was  expressed  by  the  friends  of  Ma 
dame  Jumel  when  it  became  known  that 
she  had  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  her 
aged  suitor,  especially  when  they  learned 
of  the  out-of-hand  manner  in  which  the 
affair  had  been  conducted.  Somewhat 
similar  to  this  is  a  story  told  of  Colonel 
Nathaniel  Burwell,  of  Carter  Hall,  Vir 
ginia,  who  was  so  afflicted  by  the  death 
of  his  wife,  Susanna  Grymes,  that  he  went 
to  Rosewell  and  requested  Governor  John 
Page  to  send  for  his  young  and  beautiful, 
widowed  half-sister,  Mrs.  George  W.  Bay 
lor,  for  him  to  many.  The  widow  came 
obedient  to  the  summons,  but  objected, 
upon  which  Colonel  Burwell  exclaimed, 
"  Lucy,  you  don't  know  what  is  good  for 
you  ;  your  brother  John  and  I  arranged  it 
all  before  you  came,"  which  dogmatic  as 
sertion  seeming  to  satisfy  Mrs.  Baylor,  she 
acceded  to  the  family  arrangement  with 
the  meekness  of  a  woman  of  the  Old  Tes- 


1 68         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

tament.  After  the  ceremony,  the  groom, 
turning  to  the  fair  bride,  said,  "  Now,  Lucy, 
you  can  weep  for  your  dear  George  and  I 
will  weep  for  my  beloved  Suky !" 

We  are  not  told  that  Colonel  Burr  and 
Madame  Jumel  spent  their  days  in  weeping 
over  their  respective  consorts ;  but  there 
is  good  authority  for  believing  that  tears 
were  shed  by  one  at  least  of  this  ill-assorted 
couple. 

Another  picture  remains  of  a  scene  in 
the  old  mansion,  when  Madame  Jumel  was 
entertaining  Joseph  Bonaparte.  Madame 
refused  to  pass  through  the  door  to  take 
her  place  at  table  in  advance  of  her  guest, 
because  he  was  a  prince.  The  gentleman 
bowed  and  politely  declined  to  take  pre 
cedence  of  a  lady,  while  the  guests  stood 
aside,  waiting  to  see  how  the  question 
of  etiquette  would  be  decided.  How  the 
matter  was  settled  upon  this  occasion  is 
not  related,  but  two  doors  cut  through 
later,  and  still  standing  side  by  side,  show 
how  the  hostess  avoided  similar  complica 
tions  in  the  future. 

The  bouweries  of  Governor  Stuyvesant, 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  169 

Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Jacobus  Kip 
were  in  what  is  now  the  heart  of  the  great 
city,  the  possessions  of  the  influential  fam 
ilies  of  De  Lancey  and  Roosevelt  were 
in  the  centre  of  the  island,  while  farther 
up  the  Hudson  were  the  vast  manors  of 
the  Beekmans,  Livingstons,  Van  Rens- 
selaers,  Schuylers,  and  Johnsons,  where 
these  patroons  lived  among  and  ruled 
over  their  tenantry  like  the  feudal  lords 
of  old  England.  When  a  member  of  the 
Van  Rensselaer  family  died,  the  tenants, 
sometimes  amounting  to  several  thou 
sand,  says  Bishop  Kip,  came  down  to 
Albany  to  pay  their  respects  to  his  mem 
ory,  and  to  drink  to  the  peace  of  his  soul 
in  good  ale  from  his  generous  cellars. 
The  cannon  which  stood  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Van  Rensselaer  manor-house,  and 
which  was  always  fired  upon  the  birth  or 
death  of  one  of  the  family,  is  still  preserved 
to  testify  to  the  honors  paid  these  long 
dead  and  gone  patroons.  The  burial  of 
Philip  Livingston,  in  1749,  upon  which  oc 
casion  services  were  performed  at  his  house 
in  New  York  as  well  as  at  the  manor- 
H  15 


I/O         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

house,  is  thus  described  in  a  journal  of  the 
day: 

"  In  the  city,  the  lower  rooms  of  most  of  the  houses 
in  Broadstreet,  where  he  resided,  were  thrown  open  to 
receive  visitors.  A  pipe  of  wine  was  spiced  for  the  oc 
casion,  and  to  each  of  the  eight  bearers,  with  a  pair  of 
gloves,  mourning  ring,  scarf  and  handkerchief,  a  mon 
key-spoon  was  given.  [This  was  so  called  from  the  fig 
ure  of  an  ape  or  monkey  which  was  carved  in  solido  at 
the  extremity  of  the  handle.  It  differed  from  a  common 
spoon  in  having  a  circular  and  very  shallow  bowl.] 
At  the  manor  these  ceremonies  were  all  repeated,  an 
other  pipe  of  wine  was  spiced,  and  besides  the  same 
presents  to  the  bearers,  a  pair  of  black  gloves  and  a 
handkerchief  were  given  to  each  of  the  tenants.  The 
whole  expense  was  said  to  amount  to  ,£500."* 

Many  interesting  associations  cluster 
round  the  Livingston  manor,  built  by 
Chancellor  Livingston.  The  old  home 
stead  of  Judge  Robert  R.  Livingston  and 
his  wife,  Margaret  Beekman,  was  destroyed 
by  the  British  in  1777.  From  this  happy 
home,  to  whose  mistress  Judge  Livingston 

*  At  funerals  in  old  New  York  it  was  customary  to 
serve  hot  wine  in  winter  and  sangaree  in  summer. 
Burnt  wine  was  sometimes  served  in  silver  tankards. — 
"  History  of  New  York,"  by  William  L.  Stone. 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  1^1 

writes  after  thirteen  years  of  married  life, 
"  My  imagination  paints  you  with  all  your 
loveliness,  with  all  the  charms  my  soul  has 
so  many  years  doated  on,"  came  such  sons 
as  Robert  R.  Livingston,  first  Chancellor 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  Colonel  Henry 
B.  Livingston,  and  youngest,  but  not  least 
important,  Edward,  the  distinguished  law 
yer  and  statesman,  who  married  the  beau 
tiful  widow  Moreau.  Janet  Livingston 
married  General  Montgomery,  who  fell  at 
Quebec,  while  her  youger  sister,  Alida,  be 
came  the  wife  of  General  John  Armstrong. 
Robert  R.  Livingston  represented  the 
United  States  at  the  Court  of  France,  and, 
although  very  deaf,  was  as  fluent  and  enter 
taining  in  French  as  in  English.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother-in-law,  General 
Armstrong,  who  could  speak  no  French, 
upon  which  Napoleon  exclaimed,  "  What 
strange  people  are  these  Americans  !  First 
they  send  me  a  deaf  man,  and  then  one 
who  is  dumb." 

In  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Dela 
ware,  where  the  patroon  system  did  not 
prevail,  there  were  extensive  manors  laid 


\J2         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

out  for  the  Biddies,  Norrises,  Penns,  and 
others,  and  handsome  mansions,  as  that  at 
Belmont  where  William  Peters  and  his 
wife,  Mary  Brientnal,  lived  before  the 
Revolution,  and  where  their  son,  the 
learned  and  witty  Judge  Peters,  resided 
later ;  The  Hills,  once  a  McPherson  prop 
erty,  to  which  General  Arnold  took  his 
lovely  bride,  Margaret  Shippen,  in  the 
summer  of  1779;  and  Lansdowne,  the 
country-seat  of  John  Penn,  where,  in  days 
after  the  Revolution,  the  beautiful  Mrs. 
Bingham  held  a  court  worthy  of  a  princess. 
Mr.  Breck  tells  an  amusing  story  of 
Mrs.  Bingham's  attempt  to  introduce  the 
foreign  fashion  of  having  her  guests  an 
nounced.  "  The  doctor  and  Miss  Peggy" 
were  the  names  given  by  the  unsuspect 
ing  coachman  to  the  servant  in  livery, 
who,  with  the  literalness  that  seems  to 
belong  to  the  liveried  official,  repeated 
"The  doctor  and  Miss  Peggy"  to  the  next 
lackey,  and  thus  the  names  were  sounded 
through  the  great  halls  to  the  drawing- 
room,  where  "  the  doctor  and  Miss  Peggy," 
Dr.  Kuhn  and  his  step-daughter,  Miss 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  173 

Markoe,  arrived  in  a  state  of  rather  un 
dignified  merriment. 

South  of  Lansdowne  is  Woodlands,  still 
standing,  a  good  example  of  a  handsome 
Colonial  mansion.  Here  lived  Andrew 
Hamilton,  known  all  through  the  Colonies 
as  a  great  lawyer,  having  won  the  cele 
brated  Zenger  case  in  New  York,  which, 
like  that  of  John  Wilkes  in  England,  re 
solved  itself  into  a  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon 
protest  against  restricting  the  liberty  of  the 
press, — such  liberty  as  we  now  possess,  and 
in  whose  exercise  we  sometimes  feel  as  did 
the  Israelites  of  old,  that  the  desire  of  our 
hearts  has  been  granted,  but  that  leanness 
has  entered  into  our  souls.  In  a  London 
letter  to  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  Mr. 
Hamilton  is  spoken  of  as  a  "  Goliath  in 
Learning  and  Politics,"  while  great  English 
barristers  admitted  that  the  subject  of  libels 
had  never  been  so  well  treated  at  West 
minster  Hall  as  in  New  York  by  Andrew 
Hamilton,  which  shows  that  the  proverbial 
Philadelphia  lawyer  was  abroad  at  an  early 
day.  It  was  the  second  Andrew  Hamil 
ton  who  was  living  at  Woodlands  when 
i5* 


COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 


Mr.  Black  came  to  Philadelphia,  and  who, 
with  Secretary  Peters  and  Mr.  Robert 
Strettell,  welcomed  him  into  the  Province 
with  old-time  hospitality  and  "  a  Bowl  of 
fine  Lemon  Punch  big  enough  to  have 
Swimm'd  half  a  dozen  of  young  geese." 
Near  Woodlands,  overlooking  the  river, 
is  the  house  of  John  Bartram,  surrounded 
by  his  famous  botanical  garden,  the  first 
in  the  country.  Some  of  the  trees  are 
still  standing  under  which  sat  such  great 
scientists  as  Dr.  Casper  Wistar,  Dr.  Rush, 
and  David  Rittenhouse,  or  such  statesmen 
as  Jefferson  and  Adams. 

Wakefield,  a  Fisher  homestead,  and 
James  Logan's  residence,  Stenton,  to 
which  the  friendly  Indians  came  in  such 
numbers  that  they  were  obliged  to  encamp 
upon  the  lawn,  are  both  in  the  German- 
town  neighborhood  ;  while  to  walk  along 
the  narrow  Main  Street  is  like  taking-  a 

o 

journey  into  the  past  century,  so  many 
sober,  drab-colored  fa$ades  and  charming 
white-columned  doors  present  themselves, 
offering  dignified  rebuke  to  the  noisy, 
modern  trolley  that  whirls  between  them. 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  1/5 

Notable  among  the  older  and  more  spacious 
dwellings  is  Cliveden,  the  Chew  house, 
which  appears  in  Revolutionary  prints 
emitting  flame  and  smoke,  like  the  dragons 
of  fairy  lore,  with  riflemen  firing  from  every 
window  and  armed  Continentals  charging 
across  its  lawn.  As  the  home  of  Coun 
cillor  Benjamin  Chew  and  his  bevy  of  gay 
daughters,  this  house  has  a  history  of  its 
own,  before  the  war  and  after ;  and  during 
the  British  occupation  Major  Andre  was 
often  there.  A  pleasant  picture  of  these 
days  at  Cliveden  has  lately  come  to  us 
from  a  member  of  the  family,  with  some 
verses  written  by  Andre  upon  seeing  Miss 
Peggy's  fair  face  framed  by  a  spray  of 
apple-blossoms.  Love  and  hope  were  in 
their  spring-time  with  this  pair,  and  who 
can  tell  what  vows  were  exchanged  be 
neath  the  blossoming  branches  of  the 
Cliveden  trees,  especially  as  later  dis 
closures  seem  to  place  almost  beyond 
question  the  report  that  the  young  officer 
was  engaged  to  Miss  Chew,  whose  knight 
he  was  in  the  famous  Meschianza  ?  That 
Peggy  Chew  did  not  marry  until  seven 


COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

years  after  Andre's  death  is  a  rather  sig 
nificant  fact  in  view  of  her  attractions  and 
the  early  age  at  which  women  married  in 
those  days.  Her  marriage  to  General 
Howard,  the  hero  of  Cowpens,  was  sol 
emnized  in  the  Chew  house  on  Third 
Street,  upon  which  occasion  Washington 
was  present  and  doubtless  trod  a  measure, 
as  the  Commander-in-Chief  had  a  warm  ad 
miration  for  this  family  of  bright  sisters,  with 
whose  father  he  was  upon  friendly  terms.* 

Mrs.  Sophie  Howard  Ward  says  that 
after  her  grandmother's  marriage  she 
still  loved  to  dwell  upon  Major  Andre's 
charms,  while  her  patriotic  husband  was 
wont  to  cut  short  her  reminiscences  by 
exclaiming,  "  He  was  a  -  -  spy,  nothing 
but  a spy  !" 

Beautiful  with  the  serene  beauty  of  old 


*  Although  obliged  to  leave  Philadelphia  in  August, 
1777,  being  under  arrest  as  an  officer  of  the  Crown, 
Mr.  Chew  was  allowed  to  come  back  to  his  home  in 
May,  1778,  no  overt  act  being  charged  against  him. 
Later,  under  the  new  government,  he  was  Judge  and 
President  of  the  High  Court  of  Excise  and  Appeals  of 
Pennsylvania  from  1791  until  1808. 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  1 77 

age,  rich  with  many  associations  clustered 
about  it,  stands  the  Wister  homestead, 
Grumblethorpe.  Built  by  John  Wister, 
who  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1727,  this 
was  the  first  summer  residence  erected  by 
a  Philadelphian  in  Germantown.  Vernon, 
another  Wister  house,  is  much  more  pictu 
resquely  situated  upon  what  was  once  the 
property  of  Melchior  Meng.  Although 
Grumblethorpe  stands  directly  upon  the 
Main  Street,  the  garden  and  grounds  reach 
back  some  distance,  embracing  several 
acres,  and  boasting  a  charming  garden  full 
of  old-fashioned  flowers,  and  a  pear-tree 
planted  by  John  Wister,  the  first  settler. 
One  of  the  habitues  of  this  house  was 
Count  Zinzendorf,  a  man  of  high  rank 
and  large  possessions,  who  came  to 
America  in  the  interests  of  the  Moravian 
Church.  The  Saxon  nobleman  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Wister's,  who,  in  his 
later  years,  strongly  inclined  towards  the 
religion  of  the  Hussites. 

In  this  mansion,  long  known  as  the 
"Wister's  Big  House,"  General  Agnew 
made  his  head-quarters,  and  hither,  after 


1/8          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

the  battle  of  Germantown,  he  was  carried 
mortally  wounded.  The  spot  is  still 
shown  where  he  died ;  the  blood-stains  are 
upon  the  floor,  like  those  at  Holyrood 
which  tell  where  Rizzio  fell.  Under  the 
spell  of  the  associations  of  that  older 
time,  we  read,  over  the  gallant  officer's 
signature,  tender,  manly  words  written  to 
his  wife,  telling  her  that  the  war  will  not 
last  many  months,  when  it  will  be  his 
pleasure  to  dedicate  to  her  the  rest  of  his 
life ;  and,  quite  forgetting  that  he  was  our 
country's  enemy,  we  think  of  him  only  as 
a  brave  gentleman  who  died  in  a  strange 
land  in  the  honest  discharge  of  his  duty. 
War  seems  terrible — a  ghastly  spectre 
divested  of  all  pomp  and  circumstance — 
when  we  think  of  Agnew  dying  of  his 
wounds  in  the  old  Germantown  house,  far 
from  his  Mary  and  the  children  whom 
he  loved,  or  hear  the  words  of  a  British 
officer  to  his  men  who  were  burying  the 
dead  from  the  field  of  Germantown, 
"  Don't  bury  them  with  their  faces  up, 
and  thus  cast  dirt  in  their  faces.  They 
are  all  mothers'  sons." 


OLD    LANDMARKS. 

Wedding  bells  were  heard  in  the  old 
home  as  well  as  funeral  dirges.  Here, 
under  the  moulded  circle  in  the  parlor 
ceiling,  Major  Lennox,  an  American  officer 
who  had  his  head-quarters  in  the  Wister 
house,  was  married  to  Miss  Lukens,  who, 
like  a  heroine  of  romance,  spent  her 
honeymoon  in  this  beleaguered  castle. 
Passing  from  the  parlor  into  the  hall,  we 
are  suddenly  confronted  with  a  life-size 
figure  of  a  British  grenadier  in  full  uni 
form,  who  stands  here  like  a  sentinel 
guarding  the  memorials  of  the  past.  This 
wooden  figure,  which  is  admirable  in  out 
line  and  coloring,  has  been  attributed  to 
Major  Andre;  but  the  fact  that  it  plays  a 
prominent  part  in  Sally  Wister's  diary  of 
life  in  the  Foulke  house,  at  Penllyn,  where 
the  Wister  family  took  refuge  before  the 
battle  of  Germantown,  precludes  this  idea. 
Andre's  scenery  and  drops  for  the  little 
theatre  in  Southwark  were  painted  several 
months  later,  and  Miss  Wister  herself  says, 
"  We  had  brought  some  weeks  ago  a 
British  grenadier  from  Uncle  Miles's  on 
purpose  to  divert  us."  The  young  girl's 


180    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

description  of  the  pranks  played  with  this 
soldier  of  wood  and  paint,  written  for  the 
entertainment  of  her  friend  Miss  Deborah 
Norris,  has  the  freshness  and  vivacity  of 
a  story  of  to-day.  It  had  been  planned 
by  the  "amiable  Major  Stodard"  and  her 
mischievous  self  to  give  poor  Mr.  Tilly  a 
fright.  After  explaining  that  the  British 
grenadier  had  been  placed  near  a  door 
opening  into  the  road,  another  figure 
near  by  "  to  add  to  the  deceit,"  Miss 
Wister  relates  the  success  of  her  rather 
severe  practical  joke : 

"  Sixth  Day,  Night. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  evening  I  went  to  Liddy 
and  beg'd  her  to  secure  the  swords  and  pistols  which 
were  in  their  parlour.  The  Marylander,  hearing  our 
voices,  joined  us.  I  told  him  of  our  proposal.  Whether 
he  thought  it  a  good  one  or  not  I  can't  say,  but  he  ap- 
prov'd  of  it,  and  Liddy  went  in  and  brought  her  apron 
full  of  swords  and  pistols.  When  this  was  done,  Stod 
ard  join'd  the  officers.  We  girls  went  and  stood  at  the 
first  landing  of  the  stairs.  The  gentlemen  were  very 
merry,  and  chatting  on  public  affairs,  when  Seaton's 
negro  (observe  that  Seaton,  being  indisposed,  was  ap- 
priz'd  of  the  scheme)  open'd  the  door,  candle  in  hand, 
and  said, '  There's  somebody  at  the  door  that  wishes  to 
see  you.'  '  Who  ?  All  of  us  ?'  said  Tilly.  '  Yes,  Sir,' 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  l8l 

said  the  boy.  They  all  rose  (the  Major,  as  he  said 
afterwards,  almost  dying  with  laughter),  and  walked 
into  the  entry,  Tilly  first,  in  full  expectation  of  news. 
The  first  object  that  struck  his  view  was  a  British  sol 
dier.  In  a  moment  his  ears  were  saluted, '  Is  there  any 
rebel  officers  here  ?'  in  a  thundering  voice.  Not  waiting 
for  a  second  word,  he  darted  like  lightning  out  of  the 
front  door,  through  the  yard,  bolted  o'er  the  fence. 
Swamps,  fences,  thorn-hedges  and  plough' d  fields  no 
way  impeded  his  retreat.  He  was  soon  out  of  hearing. 
The  woods  echoed  with,  'Which  way  did  he  go? 
Stop  him!  Surround  the  house!'  The  amiable  Lips- 
comb  had  his  hand  on  the  latch  of  the  door,  intending 
to  make  his  escape ;  Stodard,  considering  his  indisposi 
tion,  acquainted  him  with  the  deceit.  We  females  ran 
down  stairs  to  join  in  the  general  laugh.  I  walked  into 
Jesse's  parlour.  There  sat  poor  Stodard  (whose  sore 
lips  must  have  receiv'd  no  advantage  from  this),  almost 
convuls'd  with  laughing,  rolling  in  an  arm-chair.  He 
said  nothing;  I  believe  he  could  not  have  spoke. 
'Major  Stodard,'  said  I,  'go  to  call  Tilly  back.  He 
will  lose  himself, — indeed  he  will ;'  every  word  inter 
rupted  with  a  '  Ha !  ha !'  At  last  he  rose,  and  went 
to  the  door;  and  what  a  loud  voice  could  avail  in 
bringing  him  back,  he  tried.  Figure  to  thyself  this 
Tilly,  of  a  snowy  evening,  no  hat,  shoes  down  at  the 
heel,  hair  unty'd,  flying  across  meadows,  creeks,  and 
mud-holes.  Flying  from  what  ?  Why,  a  bit  of  painted 
wood.  But  he  was  ignorant  of  what  it  was.  The  idea 
of  being  made  a  prisoner  wholly  engrossed  his  mind, 
and  his  last  resource  was  to  run. 

"  After  a  while,  we  being  in  more  composure,  and 

16 


1 82         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

our  bursts  of  laughter  less  frequent,  yet  by  no  means 
subsided, — in  full  assembly  of  girls  and  officers, — Tilly 
enter'd.  The  greatest  part  of  my  risibility  turn'd  to 
pity.  Inexpressible  confusion  had  taken  entire  posses 
sion  of  his  countenance,  his  fine  hair  hanging  dishevell'd 
down  his  shoulders,  all  splashed  with  mud ;  yet  his 
bright  confusion  and  race  had  not  divested  him  of  his 
beauty.  He  smil'd  as  he  trip'd  up  the  steps ;  but  'twas 
vexation  plac'd  it  on  his  features.  Joy  at  that  moment 
was  banished  from  his  heart.  He  briskly  walked  five 
or  six  steps,  then  stop'd,  and  took  a  general  survey  of 
us  all.  '  Where  have  you  been,  Mr.  Tilly  ?'  ask'd  one 
officer.  (We  girls  were  silent.)  'I  really  imagin'd,' 
said  Major  Stodard,  *  that  you  were  gone  for  your  pis 
tols,  I  follow'd  you  to  prevent  danger,' — an  excessive 
laugh  at  each  question,  which  it  was  impossible  to  re 
strain.  '  Pray,  where  were  your  pistols,  Tilly  ?'  He 
broke  his  silence  by  the  following  expression :  '  You 
may  all  go  to  the  D — 1.'  I  never  heard  him  utter  an 
indecent  expression  before." 

That  this  adventure  was  rather  discom 
fiting  to  Mr.  Tilly  may  be  gathered  from 
the  smart  journalizer's  statement  that  on 
First  day  night  he  had  not  "  said  a  sylla 
ble  to  one  of  us  young  ladies  since  Sixth 
day  eve."  When  the  silence  was  finally 
broken,  Mr.  Tilly  showed  that  all  bitterness 
had  departed  from  his  soul,  as  he  yielded 
to  the  good-natured  merriment  of  the  hour 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  183 

and   gave  the  company  a   humorous   ac 
count  of  his  own  exploits. 

Between  Germantown  and  Philadelphia 
was  Fair  Hill,  the  home  of  Isaac  Norris, 
and  near  Frankford,  upon  a  fair  green  spot 
in  the  midst  of  a  net-work  of  railroads, 
stands  Chalkley  Hall.  Of  this  country- 
seat  and  its  former  owner,  the  devout  visit 
ing  Friend,  Thomas  Chalkley,  the  poet 
Whittier  wrote  after  a  stroll  through  the 
grounds, — 

"  Beneath  the  arms 

Of  this  embracing  wood,  a  good  man  made 
His  home,  like  Abraham  resting  in  the  shade 
Of  Mamre's  lonely  palms." 

The  old  mansion,  which  has  been  in  the 
possession  of  the  Wetherill  family  since 
1817,  was  long  the  home  of  Abel  James, 
who  married  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Chalk- 
ley.  Tradition  tells  of  a  great  dinner  given 
here  in  Colonial  days,  when  eighty  covers 
were  laid,  and  the  soup  was  served  to  each 
guest  in  a  silver  porringer.  The  hall  of 
the  old  house  is  spacious  enough  to  admit 
of  an  even  larger  company ;  but  the  story 


1 84          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

of  the  eighty  porringers  is  a  trifle  problem 
atical,  although  that  some  such  articles  of 
plate  existed  members  of  the  family  are 
able  to  prove  by  the  most  conclusive  of  all 
demonstrations.  Another  famous  dinner, 
spread  by  Mrs.  Abel  James,  in  1777,  for 
some  ill-fed  Continental  soldiers  encamped 
in  the  neighborhood,  was  unceremoniously 
interrupted  by  the  sentry's  cry,  "  The  Red 
coats  are  upon  us  !"  A  sudden  shifting 
of  figures  upon  the  scene  ensued,  the  in 
vited  guests  retreating  by  one  door,  while 
the  unbidden  convives  entered  by  the 
other,  and,  taking  their  places  at  the  board, 
fell  with  a  will  upon  Mrs.  James's  good 
cheer,  for  which  they  afterwards  had  the 
grace  to  thank  her  most  politely.  An 
other  story  told  of  this  kindly  mistress  of 
Chalkley  Hall  is,  that  during  the  British 
occupation  she  frequently  carried  a  little 
pig  under  the  seat  of  her  chaise  to  some 
of  her  friends  in  Philadelphia  who  were 
greatly  in  need  of  food.  The  dignified 
Quaker  lady  passed  the  British  sentinel 
unmolested,  no  person  suspecting  her  of 
smuggling  live-stock  through  the  lines. 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  185 

Hearing  an  old  Philadelphian  recount 
his  boyish  exploits  upon  the  cherry-trees 
of  his  neighbor  Charles  Wharton  and  de 
scribe  in  detail  his  and  other  fine  old  homes 
on  Second  Street,  we  can  form  some  idea 
of  the  spaciousness  of  these  dwellings,  with 
their  terraced  gardens  in  the  rear  reaching 
back  to  Third  Street,  and  capacious  cellars 
in  which  were  stored  hogsheads  of  rum 
from  Jamaica  and  casks  of  wine  from  Lis 
bon  and  the  Canaries.  John  Cadwalader 
built  a  house  on  Second  Street  prior  to 
1774,  as  John  Adams  and  Silas  Deane 
both  wrote  of  being  dined  and  wined  here 
at  that  date.  The  latter  says,  "  I  dined 
yesterday  with  Mr.  Cadwalader,  whose  fur 
niture  and  house  exceed  anything  I  have 
seen  in  this  city  or  elsewhere."  It  was  in 
his  large  garden,  reaching  to  Third  Street, 
that  John  Cadwalader  drilled  and  enter 
tained  in  great  style  the  military  company 
raised  by  him,  the  first  formed  in  Penn 
sylvania.  This  company,  "the  Greens," 
called  in  derision  the  "  Silk  Stocking  Com 
pany,"  most  of  its  members  being  gentle 
men,  afterwards  formed  a  part  of  General 


1 86         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

Cadwalader's  brigade,  which  distinguished 
itself  upon  many  battle-fields. 

Over  this  home  on  Second  Street  pre 
sided  Elizabeth  Lloyd,  the  first  wife  of 
General  Cadwalader,  and,  later,  beautiful 
Williamina  Bond,  and  here  grew  into  the 
loveliness  that  afterwards  distinguished 
them  such  fair  daughters  of  the  house 
as  Maria  Cadwalader,  who  married  Gen 
eral  Samuel  Ringgold,  of  Fountain  Rock, 
Maryland,  and  Frances,  who  became  the 
wife  of  David  Montagu  Erskine,  some 
time  secretary  to  the  British  legation  in 
Philadelphia.*  A  miniature  of  Frances 

*  A  daughter  of  Lord  and  Lady  Erskine  married 
James  Henry  Callender,  and  was  celebrated  for  her 
beauty  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  Another 
daughter,  the  Hon.  Mary  Erskine,  married,  in  1832, 
Hermann,  Count  von  Baumgarten,  of  Bavaria.  A  story 
has  prevailed,  and  even  found  its  way  into  print,  that 
this  English  lady  was  the  author  of  "  The  Initials/' 
"  Quits,"  etc.  To  correct  this  on-dit  it  is  only  necessary 
to  state  that  Mary  Erskine,  Countess  von  Baumgarten, 
died  March  15, 1874,  while  the  author  of  "  The  Initials" 
died  November  12,  1893.  The  latter  was  Jemima, 
daughter  of  James  Montgomery,  of  Sea  View,  County 
Donegal,  of  the  branch  of  the  noble  house  of  the  Mont- 
gomerys  of  Eglinton,  that  has  long  been  settled  in  the 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  1 87 

Cadwalader,  painted  after  she  became 
Lady  Erskine,  was  sent  from  England 
to  her  cousin,  Mrs.  Samuel  Blodget.  The 
portraits  of  the  two  kinswomen  show 
that  they  inherited  no  small  share  of  the 
beauty  of  their  ancestress,  Williamina 
Moore,  of  Moore  Hall. 

Not  far  from  the  Cadwaladers',  at  the 
corner  of  Second  and  Union  Streets,  Archi 
bald  McCall,  the  India  merchant,  built  a 
home  about  1762,  which  is  still  standing. 
In  its  great  garden  were  kept  various  ani 
mals,  brought  from  foreign  parts  by  his 
supercargoes,  making  it,  says  Mr.  Town- 
send  Ward,  the  first  zoological  garden  in 
Philadelphia.  During  the  occupation  of 
the  city  by  the  British,  Sir  William  Howe 
made  his  head-quarters  in  the  Cadwal 
ader  house,  when  much  of  the  gallant 
soldier's  good  wine  was  doubtless  en 
joyed  by  the  red-coated  officers.  Sir 
William  afterwards  removed  his  head- 
north  of  Ireland.  In  1838,  Miss  Montgomery  married 
the  Baron  Tautphoeus,  of  Marquardstein  Castle,  Ba 
varia,  Privy  Councillor  and  Chamberlain  to  the  King. 
— Burke's  "  Peerage  and  Baronetage,"  1891. 


1 88          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

quarters  to  a  large  house  on  High  Street, 
above  Sixth,  which  was  once  the  home 
of  Richard  Penn  and  his  wife  Polly  Mas 
ters,  to  whom  the  property  was  given  by 
her  mother  as  a  wedding  gift.  Richard 
was  the  most  popular  of  the  younger 
Penns,  and  here  he  and  his  wife  lived  in 
hospitable  old-fashioned  style.  While  he 
had  his  head-quarters  on  High  Street,  Gen 
eral  Howe  drove  Mrs.  Israel  Pemberton's 
handsome  coach  and  pair.  The  dignified 
owner  of  the  equipage  having  stipulated 
that  it  should  be  driven  to  her  house  first, 
it  always  stood  before  her  door  an  hour 
before  being  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
British  officer.  The  house  at  the  corner 
of  Sixth  and  High  Streets  and  the  one 
above  it  belonged  to  Robert  Morris.  The 
latter  being  considered  the  most  suitable 
in  the  city  for  the  residence  of  the  Chief 
Executive,  General  Washington  came  here 
in  1790.  Mr.  Morris  occupied  the  corner 
house,  where,  says  Mr.  Breck,  "  he  did  the 
honors  of  the  city  by  a  profuse,  incessant, 
and  elegant  hospitality.  .  .  .  There  was  a 
luxury  in  the  kitchen,  table,  parlor,  and 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  189 

street  equipage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris  that 
were  to  be  found  nowhere  else  in  America." 
To  both  these  houses  came  all  persons 
of  note  who  visited  Philadelphia  from  1790 
to  1797.    It  was  in  the  drawing-room  of  Mrs. 
Robert  Morris  that  the  Prince  de  Broglie 
performed  his  feat  of  tea-drinking,  accepting 
one  cup  of  tea  after  another  because  they 
were  offered  to  him  by  a  lady,  as  he  after 
wards    explained,    adding,   "  I    should    be 
even  now  drinking  it,  if  the  Ambassador 
had   not   charitably   notified    me   at    the 
twelfth    cup,  that  I  must   put   my  spoon 
across  it  when  I  wished  to  finish  with  this 
sort  of  warm    water."     Among   frequent 
guests  at  the   Presidential   mansion  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Lewis;    he  a  dis 
tinguished    lawyer   and   judge  under   the 
first    administration,    while  she,    an    Irish 
beauty,  who,  from  the  social  life  abroad,  to 
which  she  had  the  entree  as  the  daughter 
of    Sir    John    Esmonde,    of    Huntingdon 
Castle,  Ireland,  and  as  the  wife  of  Richard 
Durdin,  brought  a  charm    and    grace  of 
manner  equal  to  her  beauty  into  the  Re 
publican  Court  of  Mrs.  Washington. 


COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

On  Fourth  Street,  near  Spruce,  still 
stands  the  home  of  good  Dr.  Physick,  the 
magic  of  whose  name,  in  more  senses  than 
one,  was  enough  to  cure  an  ailing  mortal, 
while  on  Chestnut  Street,  above  Sixth,  was 
the  country  place  of  Joshua  Carpenter, 
later  the  residence  of  Governor  Thomas, 
Dr.  Graeme,  the  Dickinsons,  the  Chevalier 
de  la  Luzerne,  and  Judge  Tilghman.  Rec 
ollections  of  the  many  notable  persons  who 
had  at  different  times  occupied  this  man 
sion,  and  perhaps  also  of  the  good  cheer 
enjoyed  within  its  halls,  suggested  Judge 
Peters's  witticism.  Passing  the  old  house 
one  day  with  a  friend,  who  called  his  at 
tention  to  the  fact  that  the  windows  were 
being  taken  out  previous  to  tearing  down 
the  building,  he  exclaimed,  "  Yes,  the  livers 
are  all  gone,  and  now  they  are  taking  out 
the  lights." 

In  the  square  below  stands  our  most 
revered  landmark,  Independence  Hall, 
precious  not  only  to  Philadelphians,  but 
to  all  Americans  and  to  lovers  of  liberty 
everywhere. 

The  artist  and  engraver  have  made  us 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  19 1 

familiar  with  the  noble  and  picturesque 
group  of  men  who  signed  the  Declaration. 
Here  in  1787  was  gathered  another  group, 
equally  noble  and  quite  as  picturesque, — 
soldiers  who  had  taken  part  in  the  long 
war,  statesmen,  governors,  eminent  jurists, 
and  men  of  affairs,  in  all  the  bravery  of  their 
powdered  heads,  bag  wigs,  and  velvet  suits. 
Robert  Morris  walks  to  the  State-House 
with  General  Washington,  who  is  his  guest. 
They  make  a  fine  appearance  on  the  street, 
and  are  met  with  enthusiastic  demonstra 
tions  from  the  people.  Mr.  Morris  is  de 
scribed  as  a  large  man,  and  his  portraits 
show  us  how  kindly  and  earnest  was  his 
face ;  while  the  President,  in  his  full  suit  of 
black,  wearing  his  dress  sword  with  inim 
itable  grace,  tall,  commanding,  and  digni 
fied,  is  always  an  imposing  figure.  There 
are  lines  of  care  upon  his  face  which  prove 
that  to  have  been  "the  Father  of  his 
Country"  through  eight  years  of  war  and 
five  years  of  unsettled  political  and  social 
life  was  no  light  task. 

o 

As  they  near  the  House  they  are  met  by 
other  delegates, — James  Madison,  who  has 


192         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

"the  Virginia  plan"  safely  packed  away 
in  his  clever  head,  or  perchance  the  more 
eloquent  Randolph,  who  is  to  present  it 
upon  the  floor ;  or  Rutledge,  from  South 
Carolina,  or  John  Dickinson,  from  nearer 
home  ;  or  it  may  be  that  the  General  bends 
his  tall  form  to  hear  what  Hamilton  has  to 
say  as  they  enter  the  hall  together, — Alex 
ander  Hamilton,  who  at  seventeen  made  a 
powerful  appeal  to  the  New  York  mass- 
meeting  in  '74,  who  was  Washington's 
aide-de-camp  in  '77,  and  who  now  shares 
with  Madison  the  honor  of  leading  this 
great  Convention. 

Here  are  George  Clymer,  Elbridge 
Gerry,  Roger  Sherman,  George  Read, 
and  many  others  who  belonged  to  the 
Congress  of  '76,  among  them  James  Wil 
son,  the  learned  Scotchman,  who,  while 
declaring  that  he  was  not  a  blind  ad 
mirer  of  the  Constitution,  asserted  that, 
to  his  mind,  "it  was  the  best  form  of 
government  that  had  ever  been  offered 
to  the  world,"  which  seems  to  have 
been  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Franklin.  The 
latter,  cheerful  despite  the  infirmities  of 


OLD    LANDMARKS.  IQ3 

age,  has,  as  usual,  a  little  story  to  tell. 
This  time  it  is  about  a  French  lady  who 
said  to  her  sister,  "  I  do  not  know  how  it 
is,  my  sister,  but  I  meet  with  nobody  but 
myself  who  is  always  in  the  right."  Just 
what  this  had  to  do  with  the  Constitution 
does  not  appear,  but  they  all  laughed  at  the 
old  man's  joke,  and  cheered  him  heartily 
when  he  declared  that  he  had  finally  made 
up  his  mind  that  the  carving  upon  the 
back  of  the  Speaker's  chair  was  a  "  rising 
sun,"  although  he  had  had  serious  doubts 
about  it  in  darker  days. 

If  a  painting  were  to  be  made  of  these 
statesmen  gathered  together  in  the  old 
hall,  it  would  seem  incomplete  without 
the  scholarly  and  refined  face  of  Francis 
Hopkinson.  Although  not  a  delegate  to 
the  Convention,  he  contributed  much  to 
its  success  by  his  poems,  allegories,  and 
satires,  carrying  in  that  small  head,  which 
John  Adams  described  as  not  bigger  than 
a  large  apple,  a  vast  amount  of  literary 
and  legal  lore,  and  withal  no  end  of  quips 
and  quirks  and  witticisms.  But  the  pen 
grows  garrulous  with  reminiscences,  from 
i  n  17 


194    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

which  we  turn  to  hope  that  the  old  build 
ing  may  ever  be  preserved,  an  honored 
memorial,  to  which  may  come  in  all  gen 
erations  those  who  would  renew  their  pa 
triotism  and  strengthen  their  faith  in  the 
best  that  belongs  to  humanity.  A  shrine 
is  this,  more  sacred  than  the  graves  of 
heroes,  because  this  is  a  monument  to 
principles  which  are  even  greater  than  the 
men  who  fought  in  their  defence. 


WEDDINGS  AND    MERRY 
MAKINGS. 

"  One  did  commend  me  to  a  wife  both  fair  and  young 
That  had  French,  Spanish,  and  Italian  tongue. 
I  thanked  him  kindly  and  told  him  I  loved  none  of  such, 
For  I  thought  one  tongue  for  a  wife  too  much. 
What !  love  ye  not  the  learned  ? 
Yes,  as  my  life. 
A  learned  scholar,  but  not  a  learned  wife." 

SURELY  some  crabbed  bachelor,  heavily 
fined  for  remaining  in  the  single  state 
from  which  no  fair  lady  would  help  him 


196         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

to  escape,  had  composed  this  venomous 
doggerel  for  Ann  Wing,  aged  thirteen,  to 
perpetuate  with  painstaking  stitches.  How 
glad  she  must  have  been  to  turn  from  it 
to  execute  in  colored  silks  the  impossible 
roses  and  trees  that  illuminate  her  beauti 
fully  worked  sampler ! 

Hannah  Head,  who  was  probably  as 
fond  of  bright  colors  as  any  other  Quaker 
child,  inveighs  upon  her  square  of  canvas 
against  those  who 

"  Court  to  be  decked  in  rich  attire 
With  gold  spread,  that  others  may  admire," 

insisting  in  all  colors  of  the  rainbow  that 

"  They  in  whose  noble  heart  true  virtue  dwells, 
Need  not  so  much  adorn  their  outward  shells." 

Poor  little  girls !  such  words  seem 
strangely  unsuited  to  your  years  and  ex 
perience.  We  can  only  hope  that  your 
lives  were  brighter  than  they  seem  to  us 
as  we  look  back  upon  them.  This  hope 
is  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  Miss  Wins- 
low,  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Old  South, 
was  allowed  to  take  part  in  an  entertain- 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       IQ/ 

ment  where  there  was  dancing,  and  where 
the  "  treat  was  nuts,  raisins,  cakes,  wine, 
punch,  hot  and  cold,  all  in  great  plenty." 
The  publication  of  the  diary  of  this  Boston 
school-girl  of  1771  throws  a  more  attrac 
tive  light  upon  child-life  in  New  England, 
and  leads  us  to  believe  that  there  were 
others  besides  Anna  Winslow  who  filled 
their  home  letters  with  descriptions  of  their 
innocent  pleasures  and  girlish  vanities,  even 
if  they,  like  her,  dutifully  quoted  the  text 
and  gave  their  opinions  upon  the  parson's 
discourse.  After  all,  girl  hearts  beat  high 
then  as  now,  and  were  as  quick  to  respond 
to  the  touch  of  joy  or  love.  Courtship 
and  marriage  came  so  early  in  those  days 
that  the  little  maids  had  scarcely  finished 
their- samplers  and  folded  them  away  be 
fore  they  had  to  take  them  out  again  to 
copy  the  letters  upon  the  linen  for  their 
bridal  outfits. 

With  all  the  seeming  repression  of  child- 
life,  and  the  great  outward  deference  shown 
to  the  wishes  of  parents,  there  seems  to  have 
been  considerable  independence  in  love- 
affairs  among  young  women  in  Colonial 
17* 


198          COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

days.  Even  Betty  Sewall  refused  one 
husband  of  her  father's  choice,  and  kept 
another  unexceptionable  parti  waiting  a 
year  for  her  answer  to  his  suit ;  while,  from 
Priscilla  Mullins  frankly  encouraging  John 
Alden  to  speak  for  himself,  to  Phcebe 
Harrison  refusing  to  give  her  cherries  to 
any  one  but  the  lad  for  whom  they  were 
intended,  these  gentle  creatures  seem  to 
have  had  decided  opinions  about  their 
partners  for  life.  Phineas  Pemberton's 
"  Narrative"  tells,  in  his  own  words,  the 
quaint  story  of  his  love-making : 

"  Phoebe,  with  her  mother  as  they  were  going  into 
Cheshire,  called  at  my  master's  shop,  but  I  knew  them 
not ;  she,  being  then  about  nine  years  of  age,  said  to 
her  mother,  having  got  some  cherries  in  her  apron,  '  I 
have  a  mind  to  give  one  of  these  young  men  some  cher 
ries.'  Her  mother  said,  '  Then  give  to  both ;'  one  of 
my  fellow  apprentices  being  then  by  me  and  on  a  mar 
ket  day, — I  never  having  seen  them  before,  nor  they 
me,  that  I  know  of,  and  altogether  strangers  to  them. 
She  said,  '  No ;  I  will  but  give  to  one,'  and  through  the 
crowd  of  people  that  then  stood  before  the  counter,  she 
pressed  holding  out  her  hand  with  cherries  for  me,  be 
fore  I  was  well  aware ;  and  I  admired  that  a  child  I 
knew  not,  should  offer  me  such  kindness;  but  on  in 
quiry  remembered  I  had  heard  her  name,  and  I  retail- 


WEDDINGS   AND    MERRY-MAKINGS. 


ated  her  kindness  at  the  same  time  with  a  paper  of 
brown  candy.  About  two  years  after  that  she  came 
that  way  again  with  her  mother  who  came  into  the  shop 
but  she  did  not  ;  She  only  stayed  in  the  street  &  then 
again  I  remembered  her  kindness  but  saw  not  her  face. 
About  two  years  after  that  I  went  to  Bolton  to  get  a 
shop,  to  set  up  trade  there  and  then  saw  her  again  but 
remembered  little  of  what  before  had  happened.  After  I 
was  come  there  and  had  settled  awhile  and  took  notice 
of  her  discreet  &  modest  behavior  and  features  &  per 
sonage  I  then  was  taken  with  her;  She  appeared  very 
lovely  in  my  eye  tho'  then  quite  young  &  because  of  this 
I  suppressed  my  affection  for  a  time.  Other  things 
in  the  meanwhile  offered  on  that  account  to  me,  but 
more  &  more  love  increased  in  me  towards  her  until  I 
could  not  conceal  it.  I  then  remembered  the  begin 
nings  thereof  as  already  mentioned.  Her  parents  and 
friends  were  very  respectful  to  it  but  because  of  her  ten 
der  years  it  was  still  delayed  until  she  was  of  riper  age  ; 
in  which  time  she  was  often  not  well,  sometimes  from 
home  under  the  doctor's  hands  &  once  at  London  in 
which  time  many  letters  passed." 


These  letters,  which  were  devoutly  re 
ligious  as  well  as  tenderly  affectionate,  were 
followed  by  the  marriage  of  the  Quaker 
lovers.  Soon  after,  being  grievously  per 
secuted  for  conscience'  sake,  Phineas  and 
Phcebe  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania,  where, 
as  in  Massachusetts,  the  Pemberton  name 


200         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

was  soon  identified  with  important  work  in 
the  Provincial  government. 

Another  Quaker  courtship,  of  much 
later  date,  was  that  of  Walter  Franklin,  of 
New  York,  and  Hannah  Bowne,  of  Long 
Island,  of  which  the  following  record  has 
been  preserved  in  the  Franklin  family : 

"  A  gentleman  riding  at  his  leisure  in  his  chariot 
[about  1774]  passed  the  door  of  a  thrifty  farmer  on 
Long  Island.  It  was  a  well  to  do  place,  but  there  was 
nothing  to  distinguish  the  house  from  others  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  he  would  not  have  thought  of  it 
again,  but  at  the  moment  a  young  and  beautiful  Quaker 
girl  entered  the  yard  to  milk  the  cows  that  were  com 
ing  from  the  pasture.  He  saw  that  she  was  lovely  in 
form  and  graceful,  and  scarcely  knowing  what  he  did, 
he  reined  in  his  horse  and  asked  who  lived  there. 
Without  embarrassment,  for  the  speaker  was  too  well 
dressed  and  too  gentlemanly  to  excite  suspicion,  she 
replied,  '  My  father,  Daniel  Bowne,  wilt  thou  not  alight 
and  take  tea  with  him  ?'  The  invitation  was  accepted 
and  when  the  stranger  approached  the  house  he  intro 
duced  himself  to  Daniel  Bowne  as  Walter  Franklin. 
'  Thou  art  known  to  me  by  reputation,'  said  Bowne  to 
his  visitor,  'and  I  am  glad  to  see  thee.'  Then  they 
talked  of  matters  that  each  thought  would  interest  the 
other,  Franklin  not  forgetting  to  praise  the  cows  he 
had  seen  in  the  barnyard,  but  no  mention  was  made  of 
the  maid  who  milked  them.  Presently  the  door  opened 
and  the  young  girl  entered  to  prepare  the  table  and  set 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       2OI 

out  the  tea  things.  She  was  dressed  in  the  simple  garb 
of  her  people,  her  hair  was  carefully  smoothed  and 
gathered  up  into  a  knot,  and  a  linen  kerchief  covered 
her  neck  and  bosom.  '  Hannah,'  said  her  father, '  this 
is  friend  Walter  Franklin  of  New  York.'  The  girl 
blushed  deeply  when  she  met  the  ardent  look  of  the 
stranger,  and  her  embarrassment  was  none  the  less  when 
she  found  that  no  allusion  was  made  to  the  previous 
meeting.  Long  they  sat  around  the  table  in  that  quiet 
cosy  parlor,  and  when  the  time  to  leave  had  come,  the 
guest  bade  adieu  to  the  farmer  and  his  daughter  prom 
ising  ere  long  to  visit  them  again.  The  promise  was 
faithfully  kept,  and  after  three  such  visits  Walter  sought 
and  won  the  hand  of  Hannah,  who,  as  his  wife,  rode 
with  him  in  his  chariot  to  New  York.  There  she  pre 
sided  over  his  house  at  the  corner  of  Cherry  and  Pearl 
Sts.,*  and  from  what  is  known  of  the  establishment 
there  were  few  in  the  city  that  surpassed  it.  Great  as 
was  the  change  in  her  mode  of  living,  Mrs.  Franklin 
was  quite  equal  to  her  new  position,  for  she  had  been 
taught  to  cultivate  every  housewifely  virtue,  and  her 
mind  was  stored  with  learning,  as  was  showrn  in  after 
years  in  the  rearing  of  her  children." 

The  daughters  of  this  marriage  were  gay 
girls  who  seem  to  have  left  Quakerism  far 
behind  them.  Two  of  them  married  Clin 
tons, — De  Witt  and  his  brother  George, — 

*  This  handsome  old  house  was  the  residence  of 
President  Washington  in  1789. 


202          COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

while  their  cousin,  Sally  Franklin,  a  great 
belle  during  the  British  occupation  of  New 
York,  married  Mr.  Robinson,  of  Newport, 
and  went  there  to  live.  The  admiration 
excited  in  the  breasts  of  French  and  Eng 
lish  officers  by  the  Quaker  beauties  of 
Newport  has  been  "  sung  in  song  and  re 
hearsed  in  story,"  while  a  portrait  of  Polly 
Lawton,  in  the  Redwood  Library,  smiles 
down  sweet  denial  of  any  evil  intent  in  her 
coquetry. 

Among  other  charmers  were  the  Rob 
inson  sisters,  who  made  sad  havoc  with 
the  hearts  of  the  British  officers  in  New 
port.  Mrs.  Robinson,  alarmed  by  the 
serious  attentions  of  two  of  these  gentle 
men  who  were  quartered  in  her  house, 
and  not  being  in  favor  of  a  foreign  alli 
ance,  sent  off  her  fascinating  daughters 
upon  a  visit  to  their  relatives  in  Narragan- 
sett,  forbidding  their  return  until  the  Brit 
ish  had  left  the  island.  Later  the  Marquis 
de  Noailles  was  quartered  in  the  Robin 
son  house,— a  pleasant  guest,  who  so  fully 
appreciated  the  kindness  of  his  hostess 
that  after  his  return  to  France  he  sent  Mrs. 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       2O3 

Robinson  some  exquisite  Sevres  china, 
which  was  accompanied  by  a  charming 
letter  from  his  lovely  young  wife.  It  is 
not  difficult  to  believe  in  the  hospitality  of 
this  old  mansion  when  we  see  its  great 
fireplace,  where,  says  tradition,  two  quar 
relsome  women  cooked  for  years  upon 
their  separate  stoves  without  speaking  to 
each  other. 

Great  simplicity  characterized  many 
Colonial  weddings,  but,  yielding  to  the 
sweet  and  wholesome  instinct  that  has  al 
ways  led  parents  to  rejoice  and  make  merry 
over  their  children's  settling  for  life,  the 
Colonists  gradually  surrounded  their  wed 
dings  with  more  ceremony  and  gayety.  In 
families  where  large  fortunes  were  acquired, 
a  handsome  trousseau  was  usually  pre 
pared  for  the  bride.  Before  the  marriage 
of  his  daughter  to  Nathaniel  Sparhawk, 
Sir  William  Pepperell  wrote  to  England 
for  an  outfit  which  included 

"  Silk  to  make  a  woman  a  full  suit  of  clothes,  the 
ground  to  be  white  padusoy  and  flowered  with  all  sorts 
of  coulers  suitable  for  a  young  woman — another  of 
white  watered  Taby,  and  Gold  Lace  for  trimming  of  it ; 


2O4    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

twelve  yards  of  Green  Padusoy ;  thirteen  yards  of  Lace, 
for  a  woman's  head  dress,  2  inches  wide,  as  can  be 
bought  for  13  s.  per  yard;  a  handsome  Fan,  with  a 
leather  mounting,  as  good  as  can  be  bought  for  about 
20  shillings ;  2  pair  silk  shoes,  and  cloggs  a  size  bigger 
than  ye  shoe." 


William  Pepperell,  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Sparhawk,  seems  to  have  conducted  his 
courtship  of  Miss  Hirst  in  Oriental  fashion, 
making  her  presents  of  gold  rings,  a  large 
hoop,  and  other  ornaments.  "  The  fair 
lady,"  says  the  family  chronicler,  "was 
already  wooed  by  her  cousin  Moody,  a 
school-master  from  York,  but  the  modest 
pretensions  of  the  pedagogue  were  des 
tined  to  make  no  headway  against  so  for 
midable  a  rival  as  the  future  baronet,  who 
was  even  then  the  heir  of  a  fortune,  favored 
with  engaging  manners  and  the  tact  which 
fashionable  life  and  political  eminence  con 
fer."  So  the  poor  school-master  wrote  vale 
in  the  diary  in  which  he  had  transcribed 
the  charms  of  his  Dulcinea,  and  the  victo 
rious  Pepperell  led  Miss  Hirst  to  the  altar. 

An  old  portrait  marked  "  Lady  Pepper 
ell  and  her  sister  Miss  Royal,"  represent- 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       2O5 

ing  two  demure  little  maidens  of  thirteen 
and  fourteen  seated  upon  a  sofa  together, 
the  elder  with  a  humming-bird  poised  upon 
one  hand  as  if  to  proclaim  it  an  American 
painting,  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
writer,  and  led  her  to  investigate  the  family 
line  to  learn  why  there  are  no  Pepperells 
in  the  New  England  life  of  to-day.  It 
transpired  that  William  Pepperell,  the 
grandson  of  the  victor  of  Louisburg,  who 
married  Elizabeth  Royal,  died  without 
heirs.  The  name  thus  became  extinct  in 
America,  the  family  being  represented  by 
Sparhawks,  Huttons,  Tylers,  Snows,  and 
others.  Miriam  Tyler,  a  granddaughter  of 
Sir  William  Pepperell,  married  a  certain 
Colonel  Williams ;  after  her  death  he  mar 
ried,  in  turn,  a  Miss  Wells,  and  for  his  third 
wife  a  shrewish  maid  by  the  name  of  Dick 
inson,  who  treated  his  children  so  badly 
that  they  left  home  and  finally  joined 
the  Shakers  at  Lebanon.  Of  this  marital 
experience  an  epigrammatic  friend  ob 
served, — 

"  Colonel    Williams    married    his   first   wife,    Miss 
Miriam  Tyler,  for  good  sense,  and  got  it ;  his  second 
18 


2O6         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

wife,  Miss  Wells,  for  love  and  beauty,  and  had  it ;  and 
his  third  wife,  Aunt  Hannah  Dickinson,  for  good  quali 
ties,  and  got  horribly  cheated." 

A  groom  who  lost  his  bride  upon  the 
steps  of  the  altar  was  Noahdiah  Brainerd. 
Young  Samuel  Selden,  of  Hadlyme,  Con 
necticut,  so  runs  the  tale,  observing  a  no 
tice  on  the  door  of  Chester  Meeting- House, 
stating  that  Noahdiah  Brainerd  and  Deb 
orah  Dudley  proposed  marriage  in  that 
house  on  the  following  Lord's  day,  tore 
the  notice  from  the  door  and  substituted 
another,  in  which  the  names  of  Samuel 
Selden,  of  Hadlyme,  and  Deborah  Dudley 
appeared  as  proposing  marriage  upon  the 
self-same  day.  When  the  wedding-morn 
ing  arrived,  Captain  Selden  came  early  to 
the  meeting-house,  armed  and  equipped 
according  to  the  law,  and,  observing  that 
his  notice  was  undisturbed,  took  heart  of 
grace,  and  when  Mr.  Joseph  Dudley,  his 
wife,  and  daughter  Deborah,  appeared,  he 
advanced,  addressed  the  latter  affection 
ately,  and  led  her  up  the  aisle  to  the  min 
ister,  who  married  them  according  to  the 
solemn  forms  then  obtaining.  What  the 


WEDDINGS   AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       2O/ 

groom-elect,  Noahdiah,  was  about  all  this 
time  we  are  not  informed,  but,  as  the  Sel- 
den  family  history  records  that  Samuel 
took  his  bride  across  the  river  the  same 
day,  without  objection  or  resistance  on 
her  part,  it  certainly  looked  as  if  the  fair 
Deborah,  like  the  love  of  the  "  young 
Lochinvar,"  was  not  averse  to  a  change 
ling  groom,  while  the  inscription  upon 
the  wedding-ring,  still  preserved  in  the 
Selden  family, — "  Beauty  is  a  Fair,  but 
Virtue  is  a  Precious  Jewel," — shows  that 
Samuel  fully  appreciated  the  various 
charms  of  his  daringly  won  bride.  The 
strange  sequel  to  this  romantic  wedding 
is  that  after  many  years  of  wedded  life 
and  the  birth  of  several  children,  upon 
the  death  of  her  husband,  Samuel,  Deb 
orah  Selden  became  the  wife  of  her  first 
lover,  Noahdiah  Brainerd.  The  query 
very  naturally  suggests  itself,  Did  she  love 
him  all  the  time,  was  she  frightened  into 
marrying  her  masterful  lover,  Samuel  Sel 
den  ?  and,  equally  pertinent  in  those  days 
of  much  marrying,  Did  the  defrauded 
Noahdiah  remain  true  to  his  first  love  all 


2O8         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

those  years,  or  did  he  marry  in  the  interim 
and  find  himself  a  widower  thus  oppor 
tunely  ? 

Somewhat  similar  to  this  Puritan  love- 
story  is  one  preserved  in  the  Esling  family 
of  Philadelphia,  although  in  this  latter 
tale  the  bride  was  the  clever  strategist,  as 
appears  from  the  history  of  the  affair. 

Mary  Magdalen  Esling  was  engaged  to 
be  married  to  one  Thomas  Carroll,  and 
according  to  the  chronicle  her  wedding- 
day  was  not  only  fixed,  but 

"  the  guests  had  actually  assembled  to  witness  the  cere 
mony  ;  the  wedding  entertainment  was  spread,  and  ex 
pense  had  not  been  spared;  among  the  rare,  and  for 
those  days  luxurious  adornments  of  the  ample  board, 
were  a  number  of  candelabra  containing  a  curious  kind 
of  candle  made  by  a  then  well  known  artificer,  Peter 
Pield.  These  candles  were  decorated,  and  by  an  in 
genious  process  were  made  to  explode  in  a  shower  of 
beautiful  but  harmless  pyrotechnics.  Everything  was 
in  readiness  for  the  ceremony  to  begin,  the  bridal  party 
had  entered.  Suddenly  the  candles  flamed  up,  to  the 
astonishment  and  applause  of  the  company,  but  when 
the  excitement  had  subsided  the  bride  had  disappeared. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  confusion,  she  had  slipped 
away  from  the  company,  and  all  arrayed  as  she  was  in 
her  bridal  costume,  had  leaped  the  rear  fence  of  her 
father's  garden,  and  met  on  the  outside  one  whom  she 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       2CX) 

prized  higher  than  her  intended  husband,  Carroll,  a 
waiting  lover,  who  bore  what  was  under  the  circum 
stances  the  very  appropriate  name  of  Hauck,  since  he 
had  not  only  swooped  down  in  such  an  unceremonious 
manner  on  the  company,  but  had  also  captured  her 
whom  we  may  poetically  designate  as  the  dove,  though 
practically  her  conduct  bespoke  more  of  the  cunning 
of  the  serpent." 

Some  later  weddings  that  brought  with 
them  a  spice  of  hazard  and  adventure  were 
those  of  Elisha  Boudinot  *  and  Colonel 
William  Duer,  which  took  place  in  New 
Jersey  during  the  Revolution.  At  the 
marriage  of  Elisha  Boudinot  and  pretty 
Kitty  Smith,  of  Elizabethtown,  Alexander 
Hamilton,  who  was  then  Washington's 
young  aide-de-camp,  acted  as  master  of 
ceremonies,  and,  in  addition  to  his  other 
duties,  was  obliged  to  keep  a  sharp  look 
out  to  prevent  a  surprise  from  the  enemy. 

The  marriage  of  Colonel  William  Duer 
and  Lady  Kitty  Alexander,  a  daughter  of 
Lord  Stirling,  was  solemnized  at  the  fine 
old  Stirling  manor-house  among  the  hills 

*  Elisha  Boudinot  was  a  brother  of  Elias  Boudinot, 
President  of  Congress,  and  of  Mrs.  Richard  Stockton, 
the  poetess. 

o  18* 


210         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

of  Basking  Ridge.  To  this  wedding,  says 
Emeline  G.  Pierson,  in  her  sketches  of  old- 
time  Jersey  weddings,  came  such  aristo 
cratic  families  of  the  State  as  the  Bou- 
dinots,  Stocktons,  Hetfields,  Kennedys, 
Southards,  Mortons,  Ogdens,  Lotts,  and 
Clarkes.  The  manor-house  being  at  the 
time  the  head-quarters  of  General  Greene, 
and  Washington's  camp  being  at  Morris- 
town,  only  eight  miles  distant,  this  wed 
ding  was  something  of  a  military  pageant. 
Lady  Kitty  was  given  away  by  no  less  a 
personage  than  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
while,  in  addition  to  the  numerous  officers 
among  the  guests,  the  house  was  sur 
rounded  by  soldiers,  who  called  for  a  sight 
of  the  fair  bride,  and,  when  she  stepped 
out  upon  the  lawn,  greeted  her  with  ring 
ing  cheers  and  hearty  good  wishes. 

A  dignified  New  York  wedding  that  be 
longs  to  a  somewhat  later  period  was  that 
of  Mr.  Peter  Augustus  Jay  and  Miss  Mary 
R.  Clarkson.  The  groom  was  a  son  of 
Chief-Justice  Jay  and  his  lovely  wife, 
Sarah  Livingston,  the  bride  a  daughter 
of  General  Clarkson.  Mary  Clarkson  was 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       211 

evidently  a  charming  girl.  Motherless 
from  early  childhood,  she  was  most  care 
fully  trained  by  her  father,  over  whose 
home  she  presided  until  her  marriage.* 

After  an  exchange  of  letters  of  congratu 
lation  between  the  Honorable  John  Jay 
and  General  Clarkson  upon  the  engage 
ment  of  their  children,  which  was  evidently 
a  source  of  gratification  to  both  families, 
the  wedding  of  Miss  Clarkson  and  Mr. 
Jay,  whose  course  of  true  love  ran  so 
smooth,  was  solemnized  at  the  Clarkson 
house  on  Pearl  Street. 

"  The  company  assembled  about  half-past  seven,  and 
were  received  in  the  drawing-room,  which  was  on  the 

*  That  this  exemplary  parent  was  not  lacking  in  a 
sense  of  humor  we  gather  from  a  letter  written  to  his 
daughter  Elizabeth,  while  upon  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Thomas 
Newbold,  in  Philadelphia.  Miss  Clarkson  had  evi 
dently  enjoyed  a  serenade  from  an  admirer  who  was 
unknown  to  her  father,  as  General  Clarkson  writes, — 

"  Here,  I  can  tell  you,  we  sleep  in  peace  and  quiet 
ness.  No  one  disturbs  us  at  night  under  our  windows, 
excepting  now  and  then  Aunt  Katy's  cats,  which  occa 
sionally  give  us  a  serenade.  As  I  have  informed  you 
of  the  party  that  have  annoyed  me,  I  shall  expect  to  be 
told  in  your  next  who  they  are  that  have  lately  dis 
turbed  you." 


212    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

north  side  of  the  house  on  the  second  floor,  its  three 
windows  looking  out  upon  Pearl  Street.  Among  the 
guests,  says  an  eye-witness,  were  Governor  Jay,  Miss 
Anne  Brown,  the  Rutherfurds,  Bayards,  Le  Roys,  Van 
Homes,  Munroes,  Wallaces,  and  others.  Bishop  Moore 
arrived  a  quarter  before  eight,  and  at  eight  the  bride, 
followed  by  her  bridesmaids,  entered  the  room  and 
was  received  by  the  groom  and  his  attendants.  The 
bridesmaids  were  the  Misses  Ann  Jay,  Helen  Ruther- 
furd,  Anna  Maria  Clarkson,  Cornelia  Le  Roy,  and  Susan 
and  Catherine  Bayard.  The  groomsmen  were  Robert 
Watts,  Jr.,  John  Cox  Morris,  Dominick  Lynch,  George 
Wechman,  Benjamin  Ledyard,  and  B.  Woolsey  Rog 
ers.  The  bride  was  dressed  in  white  silk  covered  with 
white  crape  or  gauze.  Pearls  adorned  her  hair,  en 
circled  her  neck,  and  were  clasped  around  her  arms. 
Her  maids  wore  white  muslin,  made  in  the  style  of  the 
Empire,  and  embroidered  in  front,  and  each  carried  a 
fan,  a  present  from  the  bride.  '  Drab  flesh-colored' 
small  clothes,  flesh-colored  silk  stockings,  white  vests, 
and  coats  varying  in  color  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  wearer 
made  up  the  attire  of  the  gentlemen,  which  corresponded 
with  that  of  the  groom,  whose  coat  was  of  a  light  color. 
The  ceremony  was  then  performed  by  the  Bishop,  and 
Mrs.  Jay  received  the  congratulations  of  her  friends.  A 
great  variety  of  refreshments  were  then  handed  round 
on  trays  by  colored  waiters,  and  in  the  dining-room 
below,  upon  a  side  table,  a  collation  was  spread,  of 
which  the  elderly  people  partook.  The  groomsmen 
drank  a  bottle  of  wine  together  before  separating,  and 
the  evening's  festivities  were  over  at  twelve  o'clock. 
On  the  next  day  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jay  went  on  a  visit  to  Ed- 


WEDDINGS   AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       213 

gerston,  on  the  Passaic,  a  little  above  Belleville,  the 
residence  of  the  Hon.  John  Rutherfurd.  On  Saturday 
Mrs.  Rutherfurd  entertained  the  bridal  party  at  a  break 
fast,  and  on  Monday  they  returned  to  the  city.  Mr.  Jay 
received  his  friends  on  the  mornings  of  the  succeeding 
Tuesday,  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  and  Mrs.  Jay's  re 
ceptions  were  in  the  evenings  of  Thursday,  Friday  and 
Saturday." 

How  dignified  and  leisurely  this  sounds  ! 
Mr.  Jay  receiving  his  friends  upon  three 
mornings  of  the  week,  Mrs.  Jay  hers  in 
the  evening,  with  no  end  of  breakfasts 
and  dinners  between.  These  prolonged 
nuptial  festivities  were  undoubtedly  a  sur 
vival  of  a  custom  prevalent  in  some  of  the 
Colonies  of  keeping  open  house  for  sev 
eral  days  after  a  wedding.  Watson  says 
that  weddings  in  old  Philadelphia,  even 
among  Friends,  were  "  very  expensive  and 
harassing  to  the  wedded."  The  bride's 
home  was  filled  with  company  to  dine, 
the  same  guests  usually  staying  to  tea 
and  supper,  while  for  two  days  punch  was 
served  in  great  profusion.  Kissing  the 
bride  and  drinking  punch  seem  to  have 
been  the  leading  features  of  these  enter 
tainments.  For  two  days  the  groom's 


214         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

friends  would  call  at  his  house  and  take 
punch,  and  all  would  kiss  the  bride,  after 
which  for  a  week  or  more  the  bride  and 
groom  would  give  large  tea-parties  at  their 
home  every  evening,  the  bridesmaids  and 
groomsmen  being  always  in  attendance. 
Sometimes  a  coaching  trip  was  taken  to 
Lancaster,  the  bridesmaids  and  grooms 
men  still  in  attendance.  The  coach  would 
stop  at  the  General  Wayne  or  the  Buck 
Tavern,  on  the  Lancaster  pike,  where 
breakfasts  would  be  served  to  the  party. 
This  more  sociable  manner  of  conducting 
a  wedding  trip  frequently  led  to  engage 
ments  between  the  attendants,  thus  pro 
moting  and  extending  happiness.  From 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  longer  wed 
ding  journeys  were  occasionally  made  to 
Newport  and  Providence,  many  marriages 
having  taken  place  between  the  young 
people  of  these  places.  Such  marriages 
were  usually  among  Friends,  and  were  the 
results  of  the  Yearly  Meetings  held  in  one 
or  other  of  the  larger  towns. 

Among  the  Scotch-Irish  in  Pennsylvania, 
receptions,  called  "  infairs,"  were  held  after 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS. 


the  wedding,  and  were  often  prolonged 
through  several  days.  In  country  places 
or  small  towns  weddings  proved  delight 
ful  occasions  for  gathering  a  neigh 
borhood  together.  Family  coaches  or 
stages  brought  numbers  of  guests  to  the 
ceremony,  and  many  stayed  overnight. 
There  was  gossiping,  feasting,  and  punch- 
drinking  galore  for  the  older  people,  and 
for  the  young  all  the  pleasant  exchange 
of  smiles  and  glances  and  gay  nothings 
that  would  eventually  lead  to  other  wed 
dings  in  the  same  circle. 

A   Harrisburg   antiquary  says    of  old- 
time  weddings,  — 


"  They  were  not  the  brief,  soulless  affairs  of  to-day. 
Guests  sometimes  arrived  before  breakfast  and  remained 
until  the  *  wee  sma'  hours '  of  night,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  Aurora  herself  escorted  them  home.  The 
hours  of  daylight  were  spent  in  plays  full  of  life  and 
spirit,  such  as  '  Shove  the  Brogan,'  '  The  Meat's  a-Burn- 
ing,'  etc.,  interspersed  with  breathing  spells  for  refresh 
ments,  when  wit  and  humor  had  free  scope,  and  such 
out-door  sports  as  '  Prisoner's  Base'  and  '  Jump  the 
Bullies.'  (The  latter  was  purely  a  masculine  game 
which  offered  the  '  young  fellows'  an  excellent  oppor 
tunity  to  display  their  agility.)  And  when  night  let  fall 


2l6         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

her  sable  curtain,  the  halls  resounded  with  instrumental 
music  and  dancing  and  the  voice  of  song." 

Although  we  do  not  hear  as  much  of 
"bride  stealing"  in  the  Middle  Colonies 
as  in  New  England,  the  groom  was  not 
allowed  to  quit  the  ranks  of  the  single 
without  a  parting  salute  from  his  com 
panions.  A  custom  prevailed  in  Southern 
Pennsylvania,  and  among  the  Scotch-Irish 
in  Virginia,  of  barring  the  progress  of  the 
coach  of  the  newly  married  pair  by  ropes 
or  other  obstacles,  which  were  not  removed 
until  the  groom  paid  toll  in  the  form  of  a 
bottle  of  wine  or  of  drinks  to  his  perse 
cutors.  These  and  other  customs,  which 
seem  to  us  so  rude,  do  not  appear  to  have 
seriously  interfered  with  matrimony,  and 
the  brides  were  as  fair  and  as  modest  as 
those  of  to-day,  while  the  grooms  were 
equally  handsome,  and  how  much  more 
picturesque ! 

An  old  Philadelphian  who  has  lived 
long  enough  to  recall  the  early  years  of 
this  century  describes  a  handsome,  im 
posing  house  on  High  Street,  between 


WEDDINGS    AND    MERRY-MAKINGS.       2 1/ 

Seventh  and  Eighth,  and  tells  of  the 
pleasure  she  found  in  looking  from  the 
windows  of  her  Quaker  home  opposite 
upon  the  gay  doings  in  this  more  worldly 
mansion.  Miss  Beck,  the  young  lady  of 
the  house,  has  remained  a  lovely  picture 
in  her  memory,  and  she  says  that  she  can 
see  her  now  as  she  used  to  come  down  the 
marble  steps  in  her  dainty  slippers  with 
their  ribbons  crossed  and  tied  around  her 
trim  ankles,  her  long,  flowing  crape  scarf 
about  her  shoulders,  her  high  scoop  hat 
with  its  many  feathers  and  large  veil  grace 
fully  festooned  over  its  brim,  the  clustering 
curls  upon  her  forehead,  and  her  beautiful, 
bright  face  beneath.  To  see  her  enter  her 
carriage  was  always  a  delight ;  but  the  day 
of  days  in  the  memory  of  this  imaginative 
child  was  when  the  lady  whom  she 
admired  so  much  came  down  the  steps  as 
a  bride  in  her  travelling-dress  of  rich  silk, 
attended  by  the  groom,  who  was  brave  in 
satin,  velvet,  and  shining  buckles,  while 
her  two  brothers  walked  behind  her,  each 
holding  in  a  leash  his  favorite  greyhound. 
When  the  steps  of  the  great  black  chariot 
K  19 


2l8         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

with  its  yellow  wheels  were  let  down  and 
the  bride  stepped  in  and  the  groom  took 
his  place  beside  her,  the  moment  was  in 
tense,  thrilling ;  the  last  act  in  the  drama 
of  love.  Are  there  any  such  weddings 
now?  Are  there  any  brides  like  those 
who  to  the  children  living  opposite  were 
veritable  fairy  princesses  from  Andersen's 
tales  ? 


LEGEND   AND   ROMANCE. 

THE  search  after  the  truth  concerning  a 
personage  or  a  place  mentioned  in  fiction 
may  be  as  fruitless  in  practical  results  as 
the  pursuit  of  the  pot  of  gold  at  the  end 
of  the  rainbow;  yet  how  fascinating  is 
such  a  quest,  presupposing,  as  it  does,  the 
power  of  those  who  enter  upon  it  to  create 
for  themselves  a  world  of  fancy,  a  fool's 
paradise,  or  whatever  you  may  choose  to 
call  it,  which  is  in  itself  a  rare  and  delight- 

219 


220         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

ful  faculty !  That  this  power  has  not  been 
destroyed  by  the  serious  business  of  living 
in  the  nineteenth  century  appears  from  the 
fact  that  hundreds  of  pilgrims  still  follow 
Dickens  through  the  London  haunts  of 
his  characters,  or  visit  old  Salem  and  wan 
der  through  its  historic  streets  in  search 
of  the  "  House  of  the  Seven  Gables."  This 
latter  quest  is  carried  on  with  fresh  interest 
every  year,  although  Mr.  Hawthorne  has 
carefully  explained  in  the  preface  to  his 
romance  that  his  characters  "  have  a  great 
deal  more  to  do  with  the  clouds  overhead 
than  with  any  portion  of  the  actual  soil  of 
the  County  of  Essex,"  and  that  "  he  trusts 
not  to  be  considered  as  unpardonably  of 
fending  by  laying  out  a  street  that  infringes 
upon  nobody's  private  rights,  and  appro 
priating  a  lot  of  land  which  has  no  visible 
owner,  and  building  a  house  of  materials 
long  in  use  for  constructing  castles  in  the 
air." 

An  illustration  of  this  trait  of  humanity, 
for  which  no  appropriate  name  suggests 
itself,  is  afforded  by  the  interest  shown 
within  a  few  years  in  a  controversy  re- 


LEGEND   AND    ROMANCE.  221 

garding  the  Philadelphia  meeting-place  of 
the  Acadian  lovers  in  "  Evangeline."  Mr. 
Longfellow  described  the  almshouse  as  it 
appeared  in  the  plague-stricken  town  in 
1793.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  poet 
visited  Philadelphia  thirty  years  after  the 
events  narrated,  and  doubtless  saw  the 
two  almshouses  then  standing,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  he  so  confused  them  in 
his  own  mind  that  he  was  able  to  form  an 
harmonious  picture  from  the  more  salient 
features  of  the  two.  This  explanation 
would  not,  however,  satisfy  the  insatiate 
delver  after  truth.  Mr.  Frank  A.  Burr 
opened  the  discussion  by  stating  au 
thoritatively  that  the  scene  of  the  meet 
ing  of  Evangeline  and  Gabriel  was  the 
almshouse  on  Spruce  Street,  between 
Tenth  and  Eleventh,  and  their  burial- 
place  the  yard  of  old  Christ  Church, 
where  he  speaks  of  visiting  the  grave  of 
the  lovers  and  pushing  aside  the  ivy  that 
had  grown  over  their  imaginary  tombstone. 
A  local  antiquary,  Mr.  Esling,  who  had 
given  much  attention  to  the  subject  in  con 
nection  with  the  Church  of  St.  Joseph's, 


222         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

stepped  in  promptly  and  furnished  excel 
lent  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Friends' 
Almshouse  on  Willing's  Alley  as  the  place 
where  the  lovers  met,  quoting  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Longfellow  himself,  in  which,  after 
thanking  Mr.  Esling  for  some  photographs 
taken  just  before  the  building  was  de 
stroyed,  he  says, — * 

"  I  cannot  quite  make  out  from  the  photographs 
whether  this  is  the  place  I  had  in  mind  when  writing 
the  last  scene  of  the  poem.  I  only  remember  brick 
walls,  an  enclosure,  and  large  trees ;  a  building  I  saw 
many  years  ago  when  walking  the  streets  of  your  city, 
and  whose  memory  came  back  to  me  as  I  wrote.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  I  thank  you  cordially  for  your  kindness 
and  highly  appreciate  this  act  of  good  will  on  your  part. 
Is  there  not  still  standing  in  Philadelphia,  in  some  re 
mote  street,  an  almshouse  or  hospital  with  brick  walls 
and  a  garden  with  trees  ? 

"  If  so,  I  may  possibly  see  once  more  the  very  place 
I  had  in  memory.  If  not,  then  I  shall  think  that  this 

*  The  last  buildings  of  the  Friends'  Almshouse  were 
not  removed  until  the  spring  of  1876.  Another  institu 
tion  that  has  been  brought  into  the  controversy  is  the 
Friends'  "  bettering-house,"  near  Second  and  Pine 
vStreets.  This  is  out  of  the  question,  however,  as  it  was 
not  used  as  an  almshouse  or  hospital  after  1767,  and 
could  not  have  been  visited  as  such  by  Mr.  Longfellow 
in  1824. 


LEGEND   AND    ROMANCE.  223 

demolished  cottage  was  a  part  of  the  place  described  in 
the  last  scene  of  the  poem." 

The  almshouse  on  Spruce  Street  and  the 
quaint  little  building  on  Walnut  Place  hav 
ing  been  destroyed  prior  to  Mr.  Longfel 
low's  visit  to  Philadelphia  in  1876,  the  only 
individual  who  could  speak  authoritatively 
upon  the  subject  was  unable  to  decide  the 
matter.  Consequently,  the  readers  of  the 
poem  are  perfectly  free  to  form  their  own 
opinions  and  locate  for  themselves  the 
pathetic  scene  when  Evangeline,  after  her 
long  quest  in  search  of  her  lover,  enters 
the  hospital  ward  with  flowers  in  her  hands, 
the  bloom  of  the  morning  in  her  face,  to 
see  Gabriel  lying  there,  "  motionless,  sense 
less,  dying."  The  Quaker  Almshouse, 
covered  with  ivy  and  trumpet-flowers,  and 
surrounded  by  its  beds  of  herbs  and  flow 
ers,  certainly  furnished  a  more  picturesque 
setting  for  the  last  and  most  dramatic  scene 
in  the  poem  than  did  the  Spruce  Street 
building ;  yet  Mr.  Longfellow's  description 
seems  to  apply  better  to  the  more  spacious 
grounds  of  the  latter,  as  he  speaks  of  en 
tering  through  the  gates,  of  wandering 


224         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

through  the  grounds  and  sitting  under  the 
large  trees  with  the  poor,  listening  to  their 
stones  of  the  life  within.  These  expres 
sions  were  used  in  after-years  in  speaking 
to  Mr.  Burr  of  his  visit  to  Philadelphia  in 
1824,  when  the  almshouse  and  its  sur 
roundings  so  impressed  themselves  upon 
his  mind  that  they  recurred  to  him  later 
when  he  wrote  his  poem,  and  led  him  to 
place  the  final  scene 

"  In  that  delightful  land  which  is  washed  by  the  Dela 
ware's  waters." 

Dr.  Charles  K.  Mills,  in  his  history  of 
the  Philadelphia  Almshouse,  says  that  there 
is  no  question  in  his  mind  that  this  was 
the  spot  visited  by  Mr.  Longfellow  in 
1824. 

"  As  it  was  in  1755  that  the  French  Acadians  of  Grand 
Pr6 — nineteen  hundred  peaceful,  happy  souls — were 
dispossessed  of  their  homes  and  began  their  wander 
ings,  the  event  idealized  by  the  poet  can  probably  be 
referred  to  the  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  in  1793,  and 
to  the  almshouse  building  at  Tenth  and  Spruce  Streets, 
first  occupied  in  1767." 

As  there  is  no  proof  to  bring  forward, 


LEGEND    AND    ROMANCE.  225 

the  poet's  mind  naturally  being  much  more 
intent  upon  the  romantic  story  of  the  Aca- 
dians  and  the  broader  outlines  of  his  poem 
than  upon  definite  localities,  the  surround 
ings  of  the  last  scene  in  the  drama  are  still 
left  in  the  nebulous  region  of  uncertainty, 
which  is  the  most  appropriate  setting  for  a 
romance.  With  regard  to  the  burial-place 
of  the  lovers  there  can  be  no  question,  for, 
as  Mr.  Esling  clearly  demonstrates,  the 
only  spot  that  answers  to  Mr.  Longfellow's 
description  is  "  the  little  church  down  the 
alley." 

"  Side  by  side,  in  their  nameless  grave,  trie  lovers  are 

sleeping. 

Under  the  humble  walls  of  the  little  Catholic  church 
yard, 
In  the  heart  of  the  city,  they  lie.'* 

So  in  the  Catholic  church  of  St.  Joseph's, 
set  like  a  mosaic  in  the  midst  of  dingy 
alleys  and  high  buildings,  we  leave  the  dear, 
constant  old  lovers  to  sleep  their  last  sleep. 
Little  did  they  dream  that  their  obscure 
love-story  would  lead  so  many  clever  peo 
ple  to  talk  about  them,  nor  would  it,  had 
P 


226         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

not  the  hand  of  the  poet  touched  it  with 
the  magic  of  his  genius. 

Two  heroines  who  lived,  not  in  the  misty 
realm  of  fiction,  but  in  the  clear,  bright 
light  of  day,  were  Flora  Macdonald  and 
Rebecca  Gratz.  The  former,  from  the 
moment  that  she  appears  upon  the  pages 
of  history  with  her  heroic  offer  of  service — 
"  Since  I  am  to  die,  and  can  die  but  once, 
I  am  perfectly  willing  to  put  my  life  in 
jeopardy  to  save  his  Royal  Highness" — 
to  the  hour  of  her  death,  when  she  was  still 
loyal  to  the  memory  of  Prince  Charlie, 
presents  a  character  of  singular  frankness, 
courage,  and  devotion.  After  the  escape 
of  the  prince  who  seemed  so  unworthy 
of  the  lives  risked  in  his  defence,  Flora 
Macdonald  was  taken  prisoner  and  carried 
to  London.  When  it  transpired  that  the 
Scotch  maiden  was  not  a  Jacobite,  but 
simply  a  devoted  child  of  monarchy,  she 
was  courted  and  feted  by  the  nobility,  and 
even  granted  an  audience  by  George  II. 
"  How  dared  you  to  succor  the  enemy  of 
my  crown  and  kingdom  ?"  was  the  dis 
concerting  query  of  the  king,  to  which 


LEGEND    AND    ROMANCE.  22/ 

Flora  replied,  without  embarrassment,  "  It 
was  no  more  than  I  would  have  done  for 
your  Majesty,  had  you  been  in  like  situ 
ation." 

During  her  sojourn  in  London,  where 
her  life  was  a  round  of  festivities,  Flora's 
portrait  was  painted  for  Commodore  Smith, 
whose  sloop  had  conveyed  her  to  the 
metropolis  as  a  prisoner.  Later  she  left 
London  in  a  coach-and-four,  in  company 
with  Malcolm  Macleod,  a  fellow-conspira 
tor,  and  five  years  after  married  one  of  her 
own  clansmen,  Allan  Macdonald,  the  young 
Laird  of  Kingsburgh,  whose  mother  had 
aided  in  the  escape  of  the  prince.  Flora 
became  mistress  of  the  mansion  in  which 
Charles  Edward  had  passed  his  first  night 
on  the  Isle  of  Skye.  Here,  in  1773,  Mrs. 
Macdonald  entertained  Dr.  Johnson  and 
Mr.  Boswell,  the  Highland  hostess  being 
described  by  the  latter  as  "  a  little  woman, 
of  a  genteel  appearance  and  uncommonly 
mild  and  well-bred."  Later,  Mr.  Boswell 
records  that  he  slept  at  the  Macdonalds' 
in  the  same  room  with  Dr.  Johnson,  and 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  great  lexi- 


228         COLONIAL    DAYS   AND    DAMES. 

cographer  ensconced  in  the  bed  in  which 
Prince  Charles  Edward  lay  after  the  battle 
of  Culloden,  when  thirty  thousand  pounds 
were  offered  as  a  reward  for  apprehending 
him.  "  To  see  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  lying 
in  that  bed  in  the  Isle  of  Skye,  in  the 
house  of  Miss  Flora  Macdonald  (for  so  I 
shall  call  her),  struck  me  with  such  a  group 
of  ideas  as  it  is  not  easy  for  words  to  de 
scribe,  as  they  passed  through  my  mind. 
He  [Dr.  Johnson]  smiled  and  said,  '  I  have 
no  ambitious  thoughts  in  it'  "  At  break 
fast  the  next  morning  Mrs.  Macdonald  re 
lated  her  adventures,  to  the  great  satisfac 
tion  of  Dr.  Johnson,  and  of  Mr.  Boswell, 
who  of  course  made  full  notes  of  the  con 
versation. 

In  1774  the  Macdonalds  sailed  from 
Cambelton,  Kintyre,  for  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina.  Hither  Flora's  fame  had  pre 
ceded  her  and  she  was  received  with  open 
arms.  A  grand  ball  was  given  in  her  honor 
in  Wilmington,  and  upon  her  approach 
to  Cross  Creek  (now  Fayetteville)  she 
was  greeted  with  strains  of  the  pibroch 
and  the  martial  airs  of  her  native  land. 


LEGEND   AND    ROMANCE. 

For  some  time  she  remained  among  her 
friends  at  Cross  Creek,  and  the  site  of  her 
home  is  still  shown,  although  the  house  is 
now  in  ruins.  Later  the  Macdonalds  re 
moved  to  Cameron's  Hill  in  Cumberland 
County,  and  afterwards  to  Anson  County. 
During  the  early  years  of  the  Revolu 
tion  Mrs.  Macdonald  and  her  family — many 
of  the  clan  having  come  to  America — ex 
erted  great  influence  over  the  Highlanders 
in  North  Carolina.  This  influence  was 
naturally  in  favor  of  the  crown,  and  was 
of  great  service  to  Martin,  the  Tory  gov 
ernor  of  the  State.  At  the  battle  of 
Moore's  Creek,  in  February,  1776,  a  num 
ber  of  loyalists  led  by  Donald  Macdonald 
were  defeated  and  routed.  After  the  bat 
tle  the  victorious  Americans  found  General 
Macdonald  sitting  alone  on  a  stump  near 
his  tent,  waving  in  the  air  the  parchment 
scroll  containing  his  commission,  which  he 
delivered  into  their  hands.  Over  eight 
hundred  common  soldiers  were  made  pris 
oners,  disarmed,  and  discharged,  while  a 
number  of  officers  were  taken  to  the  jail  in 
Halifax.  Among  these  were  Allan  Mac- 

20 


23O         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

donald,  the  husband  of  Flora,  and  one 
or  more  of  her  sons.  Although  she  had 
taken  no  active  part  in  the  conflict,  she  ex 
erted  a  powerful  influence  over  her  clans 
men,  urging  them  forward  to  fight  for  their 
King.  Allan  Macdonald,  "  on  considera 
tion  of  his  candor  and  his  being  in  a  low 
state  of  health,"  was  released  on  parole, 
and  he  and  his  wife  and  daughter  returned 
to  Scotland  either  in  1779,  or  in  1782,  ac 
counts  varying  as  to  the  date.  The  sloop 
in  which  the  Macdonalds  embarked  upon 
their  homeward  voyage  was  pursued  by  a 
French  vessel,  and  was  in  imminent  danger 
of  capture,  when  Flora  ascended  the 
quarter-deck,  and,  nothing  daunted,  en 
couraged  the  men  to  renewed  efforts.  The 
sight  of  this  woman,  so  courageous  in  the 
face  of  danger  and  suffering,  raised  the 
spirits  of  the  crew,  and  the  French  were 
finally  beaten  and  Flora  safely  landed 
upon  her  native  soil,  where  she  passed 
the  remainder  of  her  days.  She  is  said 
to  have  remarked  more  than  once,  with 
charming  candor  and  good  humor,  "  I 
have  hazarded  my  life  both  for  the  house 


LEGEND    AND    ROMANCE.  23! 

of  Stuart  and  the  house  of  Hanover,  and  I 
do  not  see  that  I  am  a  great  gainer  by  it." 
A  heroine  of  eminence  associated  with 
the  land  of  Flora  Macdonald,  although  she 
never  set  foot  upon  its  picturesque  shores, 
was  Rebecca  Gratz,  of  Philadelphia.  Men 
and  women  still  in  the  prime  of  life  can 
recall  the  face  and  form  of  an  elderly 
woman,  slight  and  elegant,  with  gray  curls 
and  dark  eyes,  who  was  pointed  out  to 
them,  in  their  childhood,  as  the  heroine 
of  "  Ivanhoe."  This  was  a  marvel  and  a 
wonder  past  understanding,  and  ever  after, 
as  Miss  Gratz  passed  along  the  street,  she 
was  looked  upon  by  the  children  who  had 
heard  this  tale  with  a  feeling  of  awe  and 
reverence,  as  one  who  had  come  fresh  and 
fair  from  the  land  of  romance.  Hence 
forth,  in  their  minds,  the  face  and  figure  of 
Rebecca  Gratz  stood  forth  from  the  en 
chanting  background  of  barbaric  splendor 
and  chivalric  sentiment  against  which  the 
novelist  has  placed  the  beautiful  Jewess, 
they  never  doubting  that  she  had  passed 
through  the  exciting  scenes  of  the  tourna 
ment  at  Ashby,  the  lonely  castle  of  Front- 


232         COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

de-Boeuf,  and  even  the  final  rescue  from  a 
violent  death  by  the  "  Disinherited  Knight." 
Long  after  these  early  impressions  were 
made,  it  was  explained  how  this  Philadel 
phia  woman  had  come  to  be  the  heroine 
of  "  Ivanhoe."  Washington  Irving  was  a 
friend  of  the  Gratz  family,  and  often  visited 
them  in  their  old  mansion,  where  he  was 
sure  of  finding  a  warm  welcome  and  a 
room  to  "  roost  in,"  as  he  expressed  it.  In 
addition  to  this  family  friendship,  Rebecca 
Gratz  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Matilda 
Hoffman,  of  New  York,  to  whom  Wash 
ington  Irving  was  engaged  and  to  whom 
he  was  devotedly  attached.  The  sad  story 
of  that  early  love  and  loss  is  well  known. 
Matilda  Hoffman,  fair  and  lovely,  worthy 
such  a  heart  as  that  of  Irving,  fell  into  a 
rapid  decline  and  died  at  eighteen,  leaving 
what  the  world  seldom  sees, — an  absolutely 
inconsolable  lover.  Rebecca  Gratz  nursed 
her  friend  through  her  last  illness  and  held 
her  in  her  arms  when  she  died.  After 
the  death  of  Matilda  Hoffman,  the  two 
survivors  were  drawn  together  in  a  friend 
ship  that  lasted  as  long  as  they  both  lived. 


LEGEND   AND    ROMANCE.  233 

Miss  Gratz  is  described  in  her  youth  as 
a  woman  of  distinguished  beauty.  Her 
eyes  were  large  and  dark,  her  figure  grace 
ful,  and  her  manners  winning  and  attrac 
tive.  In  addition  to  these  charms,  she  was 
a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  cultivation 
and  force  of  character. 

During  Washington  Irving's  visit  to 
Great  Britain  in  1817  he  met  most  of  the 
literati  of  that  brilliant  period,  among  them 
the  poet  Campbell,  who,  well  aware  of 
Walter  Scott's  high  estimate  of  Irving's 
genius,  gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  the  Northern  minstrel.  Irving,  in  one 
of  his  letters,  tells  of  the  informal  and  cor 
dial  reception  given  him  by  the  poet,  who 
came  limping  down  to  the  gate  to  meet 
him  and  made  him  spend  several  days  at 
Abbotsford,  during  which  time  Scott,  most 
delightful  of  cicerones,  visited  with  him 
Dryburgh  Abbey,  and  pointed  out  to  him 
from  a  mountain-top  the  Braes  of  Yarrow, 
Ettrick's  stream  winding  down  to  throw 
itself  into  Tweed,  and  many  another  fa 
mous  spot.  After  the  day's  wanderings 
they  read  and  talked  together,  and  it  was 

20* 


234    COLONIAL  DAYS  AND  DAMES. 

probably  upon  one  of  these  evenings  at 
Abbotsford  that  the  older  poet  drew  Irving 
to  speak  of  his  friends  at  home,  and  among 
them  of  Rebecca  Gratz.  He  described 
her  wonderful  beauty,  related  the  story  of 
her  firm  adherence  to  her  religious  faith 
under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  and 
particularly  illustrated  her  loveliness  of 
character  and  zealous  philanthropy.  Scott, 
who  was  deeply  interested  and  impressed, 
conceived  the  plan  of  embodying  in  a 
romance  the  noble  character  and  senti 
ments  of  this  high-souled  Jewess.  He 
was  then  at  work  upon  "  Rob  Roy,"  but 
was  already  revolving  in  his  active  mind 
the  plot  of  "  Ivanhoe,"  and  was  desirous 
of  introducing  a  Jewish  female  character 
into  the  story. 

We  can  readily  understand  how  Scott's 
imagination  was  fired  by  Irving's  glowing 
description  of  his  beautiful  and  gifted  friend, 
and  why  it  is  that  "  Rebecca  the  Jewess" 
stands  out  for  all  time  as  one  of  the  finest 
creations  of  that  master-hand.  Lockhart 
tells  us  that  Scott  received  letters  from 
some  of  the  readers  of  "  Ivanhoe"  cen- 


LEGEND    AND    ROMANCE.  235 

suring  him  for  bestowing  the  hand  of 
Rowena,  rather  than  that  of  Rebecca,  upon 
the  brave  knight  of  Ivanhoe,  showing  that 
there  was  in  this  character  "  that  touch 
of  nature  that  makes  the  whole  world 
kin."  Laidlaw,  to  whom  a  large  portion 
of  "  Ivanhoe"  was  dictated,  relates  that 
he  became  so  interested  in  the  story  of 
Rebecca  that  he  exclaimed  as  he  wrote, 
"That  is  fine,  Mr.  Scott!  Get  on!  get 
on !"  To  which  the  author,  well  pleased, 
replied,  "  Ay,  Willie ;  but  recollect  I  have 
to  make  the  story.  I  shall  make  some 
thing  of  my  Rebecca."  "  Ivanhoe" 
was  published  in  December,  1819,  and  Sir 
Walter  sent  a  copy  to  Irving  and  a  letter 
accompanying  it,  in  which  he  said,  "  How 
do  you  like  your  Rebecca?  Does  the 
Rebecca  I  have  pictured  compare  with 
the  pattern  given  ?" 

Miss  Gratz  knew  the  source  of  the  char 
acter  of  Rebecca,  but,  "  shrinking  as  she 
did  from  any  publicity,  would  seldom  ac 
knowledge  the  fact,  and,  when  pressed  upon 
the  subject,  would  deftly  evade  it  by  a 
change  of  topic."  Belonging  to  a  family 


236          COLONIAL    DAYS    AND    DAMES. 

of  influence  and  culture,  she  naturally  met 
men  of  superior  position  and  abilities. 
Among  those  who  surrounded  her  it  is 
said  that  there  was  one  man  who  loved 
Rebecca  Gratz,  who  was  worthy  of  her,  and 
who  gained  her  affection.  The  difference 
in  religious  belief,  however,  proved  an  in 
surmountable  barrier  to  a  union,  this  latter- 
day  heroine  being  as  loyal  to  the  faith  of 
her  fathers  as  was  Scott's  Rebecca.  Greatly 
admired  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  in 
Philadelphia,  at  Saratoga  Springs,  where 
she  spent  her  summers,  and  at  her  brother's 
home  in  Kentucky,  where  Henry  Clay 
paid  her  marked  attention,  Miss  Gratz 
seems  to  have  put  aside  all  thoughts  of 
love  and  marriage,  and  to  have  dedicated 
her  best  energies  to  works  of  benevolence 
and  philanthropy.  There  was,  says  her 
biographer,  Gratz  Van  Rensselaer,  scarce 
a  charitable  institution  of  the  day  in  her 
native  city  that  did  not  have  the  name  of 
Rebecca  Gratz  inscribed  upon  its  records 
as  an  active  officer  or  as  an  adviser  and 
benefactress,  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews  being 
the  recipients  of  her  unfailing  kindness 


LEGEND    AND    ROMANCE. 


237 


and  sympathy.  In  view  of  this  long  life 
of  devoted  service  for  humanity  of  one 
who,  in  her  youth,  seemed  fitted  pre-emi 
nently  for  a  brilliant  social  career,  we  are 
reminded  of  the  words  of  Rebecca  in  her 
final  interview  with  Wilfred's  bride : 

"  Among  our  own  people,  since  the  time  of  Abraham 
downwards,  have  been  women  who  have  devoted  their 
thoughts  to  Heaven  and  their  actions  to  works  of  kind 
ness  to  men,  tending  the  sick,  feeding  the  hungry,  and 
relieving  the  distressed.  Among  these  will  Rebecca  be 
numbered." 

It  seems  as  if  the  novelist  had  not  only 
portrayed  the  character  of  Rebecca  Gratz 
in  that  of  his  favorite  heroine,  but  had  also 
forecast  the  future  of  her  prototype  in  these 
words  of  "  Rebecca  the  Jewess." 


NDEX. 


Adams,    John,    165,   174,   185, 

i93- 
Adams,    Mrs.   John,    128,  144, 

165. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  14. 
Agnew,    General    James,    177, 

178. 

Alden,  John,  198. 
Alexander,    Lady    Kitty,   209, 

210. 

Allen,  Judge,  52. 
Allen,  Priscilla,  74. 
Ambler,  Jacqueline,  151. 
Ambler,  Mary,  148. 
Ampthill,  81. 
Andre,  Major  John,  175,  176, 

179. 

Andros,  Governor  Edmund,  55. 
Armstrong,  General  John,  171. 
Arnold,  Benedict,  172. 
Arnold,      Margaret      Shippen, 

172. 

Ash,  Colonel  James,  147,  148. 
Ash,  John  Morgan,  147,  148. 

B. 

Bacon,  Mary  Ann,  70. 
Baker,  William  S.,  155. 
Bank  Meeting-House,  74. 
Barker,  Penelope,  127. 


Bartram,  John,  174. 
Bayard,  Catharine,  212. 
Bayard,  Susan, 212. 
Baylor,  Mrs.  George  W.,  167. 

168. 

Beatty,  Rev.  Charles,  48,  49. 
Beck,  Miss,  217. 
Becket,  Hamilton,  140. 
Beekman,  169. 
Beekman,  Margaret,  170. 
Bennett,  Joseph,  54,  93. 
Berkeley, Governor  William,  85. 
Biddle,  172. 
Biddle,  Clement,  97. 
Biddle,  Mrs.  Clement,  97,  98. 
Bingham,  Mrs.  William,  172. 
Black,  William,  18,  19,  97,  135, 

i73- 

Blackburn,  Jonathan  B.,  90 
Blair,  47. 

Blake,  Dorothy,  84,  in. 
Blodget,  Mrs.  Samuel,  187. 
Bogart,  Rev.  Mr.,  166. 
Bond,  Williamina,  186. 
Boudinot,    Annis,    113.      (See 

Mrs.  Richard  Stockton.) 
Boudinot,  Elias,  209. 
Boudinot,  Elisha;  209. 
Bowne,  Daniel,  200,  201. 
Bowne,  Hannah,  200,  201. 
Braddock,  General,  49. 

239 


240 


INDEX. 


Bradford,  20. 

Bradstreet,  Anne,  53,  63,  101— 

ill. 

Bradstreet,  Charles,  54. 
Bradstreet,    Governor     Simon, 

53,  63,  107,  108. 
Brainerd,  Noahdiah,  206,  207. 
Brandon,  81. 
Bray,  John,  34. 
Bray,  Margery,  34. 
Breck,  Robert,  136. 
Breck,  Mrs.  Robert,  135,  136. 
Breck,  Samuel,  136,  172,  188. 
Brent,  Margaret,  80. 
Brent,  Mary,  80. 
Brett,  Mary,  74. 
Broglie,  Prince  de,  189. 
Buck  Tavern,  214. 
Burr,  Aaron,  166,  167,  168. 
Burras,  Anne,  80. 
Burroughs,  Thomas,  39,  40. 
Burwell,     Colonel      Nathaniel, 

167,  168. 

Burwell,  Rebecca,  151. 
Bushfield,  149. 
Bynner,  Edwin  L.,  157. 
Byrd,  Colonel  William,  85,  86, 

87,  88,  137. 
Byrd,  Evelyn,  in. 
Byrd,  Mrs.  William,  88. 
Byrd,  William,  Jr.,  85. 

C. 

Cadwalader,  Frances,  186,  187 

(Lady  Erskine). 
Cadwalader,     General      John, 

145,  185-187. 

Callender,  James  Henry,  186. 
Calvert,  21. 
Calvert,  Governor  Leonard,  80. 


Campbell,  Douglas,  23. 
Campbell,  Helen,  107,  109. 
Carpenter,  Joshua,  190. 
Carpenter,  Samuel,  46. 
Carrington,  Mrs.  Edward,  148. 
Carroll,  Charles,  84. 
Carroll,  Dr.  Charles,  84. 
Carroll,  Thomas,  208. 
Carter  Hall,  Virginia,  167. 
Carter,  "  King,"  35. 
Gary,  Archibald,  81. 
Gary,  Mary,  162. 
Chalkley  Hall,  32,  183,  184. 
Chalkley,  Rebecca,  183  (Mrs. 

Abel  James). 

Chalkley,  Thomas,  32,  45,  183. 
Chamberlaine,  84. 
Chandler,  Mrs.,  15. 
Channing,  HI. 
Charles    Edward,    escape    of, 

226,  227. 

Cheeseman,  Major,  85. 
Chew,  Benjamin,  175,  176. 
Chew,  Peggy,  175,  176. 
Chilton,  Mary,  62. 
Chiswell,  Mrs.,  87. 
Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  154. 
Christ     Church,    Philadelphia, 

29,  120,  153,  221. 
Churches,  Ancient,  29,  156. 
Clarke,  Richard,  91. 
Clark es,  of  New  Jersey,  210. 
Clarkson,  Anna  Maria,  212. 
Clarkson,     General     Matthew, 

210,  211. 

Clarkson,  Mary  R.,  210-213. 
Clay,  Henry,  236. 
Claypoole,  James,  16. 
Clifford,  Mrs.  Thomas,  142. 
Clifford,  Thomas,  142. 


INDEX. 


241 


Clinton,  De  Witt,  201. 

Clinton,  George,  201. 

Cliveden,  175. 

Clymer,  George,  192. 

Coale,  Dr.  Samuel,  145. 

Coates,  67. 

Cob  Neck,  84. 

Coleman,  Rebecca,  17,  19. 

Collins  House,  35. 

Copley,  Hon.  Sophia  C.,  140. 

Copley,  John  Singleton,  90, 140, 

141. 

Copley,  Mrs.  John  S.,  91,  141. 
Corwen  [Curwen],  53. 
j     Cotton,  Rev.  John,  101. 
Crooked  Billet  Wharf,  67. 
Cruger,  20. 
Culpeper,  21. 
Custis,  Nellie,  94,  153,  159. 


Dana,  in. 
Darrach,  Lydia,  127. 
Deane,  Silas,  97,  145,  185. 
De  Lancey,  20,  169. 
De  Peyster,  20. 
Derby,  Elias  Hasket,  35. 
De  Vries,  Margaret,  77,  78. 
De  Vries,  Rudolphus,  77. 
Dexter,  Timothy,  35. 
Dickinson,  John,  192. 
Diggs,  Robert,  116. 
Dillard,  Richard,  127. 
D'Obleville,  Lawrence,  54. 
Dowes,  Madam,  39. 
Duchateau,  Louis,  90. 
Duche,  Rev.  Jacob,  146. 
Dudley,  Anne,  58      (See  Anne 

Bradstreet.) 
Dudley,  Deborah,  206,  207. 

L  q  21 


Dudley,  Governor  Thomas,  15, 

100,  107. 

Dudley,  Joseph,  206. 
Duer,    Colonel    William,    209, 

210. 

Duncan,  Mrs.  Margaret,  76. 
Dunton,  John,  22,  88,  92,  135- 

137- 

Durdin,  Fanny,  148. 
Durdin,  Richard,  189. 

E. 

Earle,  Alice  Morse,  75. 

Edenton  Tea-Party,  127. 

Endicott,  20,  100. 

Endicott,  Governor,  54. 

Erskine,  David  Montagu,  186. 

Erskine,  Hon.  Mary,  186. 

Esling,  Charles  H.  A.,  221,  222, 
225. 

Esling,  Mary  Magdalen,  208. 

Esmonde,  Frances,  189.  (Dur 
din;  Lewis.) 

Evans,  Rev.  Evan,  26. 

Evans,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  120- 
124. 

Eve,  Sarah,  96,  142,  147,  148. 

F. 

Fairfax,  Anne,  159. 

Fairfax,  Colonel  George,  161. 

Fairfax,  Hon.  William,  159, 160. 

Fairfax,  Lord,  160,  161. 

Fair  Hill,  50,  183. 

Fay,  Lewis,  90. 

Fergusson,  Hugh,  117. 

Fergusson,  Mrs.,  113-124. 

Ferree,  John,  75. 

Ferree,  Madame  Mary,  75,  76. 

Finley,  Samuel,  47. 


242 


INDEX. 


Fisher,  51. 

Fisher,  Joshua  Francis,  119. 
Fisher,  Miers,  97. 
Flower  de  Hundred,  81. 
Flower,  Enoch,  46. 
Folger,  Peter,  131. 
Forrest,  Mistress,  80. 
Foulke,  Dr.,  45. 
Foulke  House,  179. 
Francis,  21. 
Francis,  Anne,  in. 
Frankland,  Sir  Henry,  157. 
Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin,  41,  44, 
48,  49,  51,  86,  95,   114,  131, 

153.  I92- 
Franklin,  Mrs.    Benjamin,  50, 

i3I~I34- 
Franklin,    Governor    William, 

*34- 

Franklin,  Josiah,  131. 
Franklin,  Mrs.  Josiah,  130-132. 
Franklin,  Mrs.  William,  134. 
Franklin,   Sarah,    51,  95,    134, 

212. 

Franklin,  Walter,  200. 
Friends'  Almshouses,  221-224. 
Friends'    Meeting-Houses,  29- 

74- 
Funerals  in  old  New  York,  170. 

Q. 

Gage,  General  Thomas,  35. 
Gardner,  Mistress,  53. 
Gates,  General  Horatio,  144. 
General  Wayne  Tavern,  214. 
Germanna,  85,  87. 
Gerry,  Elbridge,  192. 
Gibbons,  Mr.,  34. 
Gill,  Anna,  82,  83. 
Gill,  Benjamin,  82. 


Goldsborough,  84. 
Gookin,  Governor,  26. 
Governor's  House,  25. 
Graeme,  Elizabeth,  119.     (See 

Mrs.  Fergusson.) 
Graeme  Park,  119,  121. 
Graeme,  Thomas,  M.D.,  116, 

119,   121,    igO. 

Gratz,  Rebecca,  226,  231-237. 
Green,  Mrs.  Samuel,  136. 
Greene,  Mrs.  Gardiner,  91. 
Greens,  The  (Associators),  145. 
Greenway  Court,  161. 
Griffitts,  Hannah,  113. 
Grymes,  Lucy,  161,  162. 
Grymes,  Susanna,  167. 
Guest,  Alice,  67. 
Guest,  the  Misses,  142. 
Gunston  Hall,  81. 

H. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  165,  192, 

209. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  18,  172. 
Hamilton,  Andrew,  2d,  172. 
Hamor,  Raphe,  80. 
Hanck,  209. 
Hancock,  John,  128. 
Hancock,  Mrs.  John,  128. 
Hard,  Elizabeth,  67,  69. 
Hard,  William,  67,  69. 
Hardenbrook,     Margaret,     77. 

(ist,  De  Vries ;  2d,  Philipse.) 
Harrison,   Phoebe,   198.    (Mrs. 

Phineas  Pemberton.) 
Harvard  College  founded,  14. 
Hay  ward,  84. 
Head,  Esther,  70. 
Head,  Hannah,  196. 
Head,  John,  69,  71. 


INDEX. 


243 


Head,  Martha,  70. 

Head,  Mary,  70. 

Head,  Rebecca,  69,  70. 

Henry,  John,  137. 

Henry,  Mrs.  John,  137.    (Sarah 

Syme.) 

Henry,  Patrick,  137,  138. 
Hermitage,  The,  81. 
Hetfields  of  New  Jersey,  210. 
Higginson,   Rev.    Francis,   u, 

103. 

Hills,  The,  172. 
Hoffman,  Matilda,  232. 
Hollyday,  84. 
Holmes,    Dr.  Oliver  Wendell, 

in. 

Hooper  House,  36. 
Hooper,  Robert,  35. 
Hopkins,  Johns,  70. 
Hopkinson,  Francis,  139,  146, 

i93- 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  142. 
Hopkinson,    Mary,    142.      (See 

Mrs.  John  Morgan  ) 
Hopkinson,  Mrs.  Thomas,  139, 

141-143- 

Horsmanden,  Mary,  85. 
Hoskins,  Mary,  127. 
House    of   the   Seven   Gables, 

220. 
Howard,     General    John     E., 

176. 
Howe,    General    Sir    William, 

187,  188. 

Hull,  Captain  Joseph,  75. 
Humphrey,  John,  63. 
Humphrey,  Susan,  63. 
Hunt,  Leigh,  140. 
Hunt,  Mrs.  Isaac,  140. 
Hunter,  Andrew,  116. 


Hutchinson,  Anne,  99, 100,  101, 

107. 
Hutton,  205. 

I. 

Independence  Hall,  190-194. 
Irving,  Washington,  163,  232- 

235. 
Izard,  21. 

J. 

James,  Abel,  32,  72.  183. 
James,  Mrs.  Abel,  183,  184. 
Jasper,  Margaret,  23. 
Jay,  Hon  John,  210,  211,  212. 
Jay,  Peter  Augustus,  210-213. 
Jefferson,  Martha,  95. 
Jefferson,  Peter,  130. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  94,  95,  151, 

l65,  174- 

Johnson.  Dr.  Samuel,  227,  228. 
Johnson,  Governor,  117,  118. 
Johnson, Isaac,  63,  64. 
Johnson,  Lady  Arbella,  63,  102. 
Johnston,    Governor  of   North 

Carolina,  127. 
Johnston,  Isabella,  127. 
Jones,  Owen,  50. 
Jumel  House,  164,  165,  166. 
Jumel,  Madame,  166,  167,  168. 
Jumel,  Stephen,  166. 
Junto,  133. 

K. 

Keith,  Anne,  116. 
Keith,  Lady  Anne,  116. 
Keith,  Rev.  George,  47. 
Keith,   Sir  William,    116-119. 
Kennedys  of  New  Jersey,  210. 
King,  Elizabeth,  127. 


244 


INDEX. 


King's  Chapel,  158. 
Kip,  Jacobus,  169. 
Kirkbride,  Colonel,  143. 
Knight,  Elizabeth,  40. 
Knight,  Madam,  36,  37,  40. 
Knox,  General  Henry,  165. 
Knyphausen,  General,  165. 
Kuhn,  Dr.,  172. 

Lr. 

Ladd,  John,  30. 
Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  158. 
Lansdowne,  172. 
Lawrence,  Thomas,  18. 
Lawton,  Polly,  202. 
Laydon,  John,  80. 
Ledyard,  Benjamin,  212. 
Lee,  General  Charles,  112,  144. 
Lee,  General  Henry,  162. 
Leete,  Governor,  22. 
Lennox,  Major,  179. 
Le  Roy,  Cornelia,  212. 
Letitia  Court,  24,  45. 
Lewis,  Judge  William,  189. 
Lewis,  Lawrence,  159. 
Lincoln,  Earl  of,  63. 
Livingston,  Alida,  171. 
Livingston,  Chancellor,  170. 
Livingston,  Colonel  Henry  B., 

171. 

Livingston,  Edward,  171. 
Livingston,  Janet,  171. 
Livingston,  Judge   Robert  R., 

170,  171. 
Livingston,  Lieutenant-Colonel 

John,  40. 
Livingston,     Margaret     Beek- 

man,  170. 

Livingston,  Mrs.  John,  40. 
Livingston,  Philip,  169. 


Livingston,  Sarah,  210. 

Lloyd,  20,  84. 

Lloyd,     Elizabeth,     of     Wye 

House,  186. 

Lloyd,  Governor  Thomas,  47. 
Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  27,  55. 
Log  College,  47,  48. 
Logan,  James,  26,  47,  174. 
Logan  MSS.,  138. 
Logan,  Mrs.  George,  113,  179. 
Longfellow,     Henry    W,    93, 

221-225. 

Lott,  of  New  Jersey,  210. 
Lynch,  Dominick,  212. 
Lynde,   Judge     Benjamin,   58, 

103. 
Lynde,  Lydia,  58. 

M. 

McCall,  Archibald,  187. 
Macdonald,  Allan,  227-230. 
Macdonald,  Flora,  226-231. 
Macdonald,   General    Donald, 

229. 

Mcllvaine,  Mrs.,  52. 
McPherson,  172. 
Madison,  James,  191,  192. 
Main  Street,  Germantown,  174, 

177. 

Makin,  Thomas,  47. 
Markoe,    Captain     Abraham, 

146. 

Markoe,  Peggy,  172,  173. 
Marshall,    Chief-Justice   John, 

148. 
Martin,    Governor,    of    North 

Carolina,  229. 
Masons  of  Virginia,  81. 
Masters,  Polly,  188. 
Mather,  Dr.  Samuel,  41. 


INDEX. 


245 


Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,   63,   64, 

65,  89,  154. 

Mather,  Rev.  Increase,  154. 
Meeting-place  of  the  lovers  in 

"  Evangeline,"  221—225. 
Meng,  Melchior,  177. 
Mercer,  Captain  George,  155. 
Merry  Mount,  54. 
Meschianza,  175. 
Mifflin,  General  Thomas,  143, 

144. 

Mifflin,  Mrs.  Thomas,  143,  144. 
Mills,  Dr.  Charles  K.,  224. 
Milnor,  84. 
Montgomery,  20. 
Montgomery,  General  Richard, 

171. 
Montgomery,     Jemima,      186, 

187. 

Moore,  Bishop,  212. 
Morgan,  Colonel  George,  143. 
Morgan,  Dr.  John,  142-144. 
Morgan,  Mrs.  John,  142-147. 
Morris,  Anthony,  75. 
Morris,  Colonel  Roger,  163-166. 
Morris,  Deborah,  67. 
Morris,  John  Cox,  212. 
Morris,  Robert,  71,  72, 188,  189. 
Morris,  Mrs.  Robert,  189. 
Morris,  Sarah,  74. 
Morton,  John,  72. 
Morton,  Thomas,  54. 
Mullins,  Priscilla,  62,  198. 
Munroe,  212. 

N. 

Neale,  Archbishop,  84. 

Neale,  Captain  James,  82,  83, 

84. 
Neale,  Henrietta  Maria,  83. 


Neale,  Mrs.  James  (Anna  Gill). 

82-84. 

Newbold,  Mrs.  Thomas,  211. 
Nice,  Mrs.  Anthony,  128. 
Nicholson,   Governor    Francis, 

*Si- 

Noailles,  Marquis  de,  202. 
Norris,    Deborah,   179.      (Mrs. 

George  Logan.) 

Norris,  Isaac,  25,  113,  172,  183. 
Norris,  Mrs.  Isaac,  25. 

O. 

O'Carroll,  Ely,  84. 

Ogden,  210. 

Old  North  Church,  155,  158. 

Old  South  Church,  155,  196. 

Otis,  James,  in. 

Otis,  Mrs.  Samuel  Alleyne,  141. 

Owen,  Robert,  73. 

Owen's  Cave,  67. 

P. 

Page,  Governor  John,  151, 167. 
Page,  Thomas  Nelson,  95. 
Patroons,  169. 
Peabody  House,  35. 
Peale,  Charles  Willson,  91. 
Pemberton,  Mrs.  Israel,  188. 
Pemberton,  Mrs.  James,  138. 
Pemberton,  Mrs.  Phineas,  198, 

199. 

Pemberton,  Philadelphia,  70. 
Pemberton,  Phineas,  198,  199. 
Penington,  20. 
Penn,  John, 172. 
Penn,  Richard,  188. 
Penn,  William,  16,  23,  26,  30, 

76,  100,  117. 
Pennsbury,  24,  25. 


246 


INDEX. 


Pennypacker,  Samuel  W.,  24. 
Pepperell,  Lady,  204,  205. 
Pepperell,     Sir     William,     34, 

203-205. 

Pepperell,  William,  ist,  34. 
Perry,  Michael,  136. 
Peters,  Judge  Richard,  172, 190. 
Peters,  Mary  Brientnal,  172. 
Peters,  Rev.  Richard,  18,  174. 
Peters,  William,  52,  172. 
Philadelphia  City  Troop,  146. 
Philipse,  Frederick,  77. 
Philipse  Manor,  162. 
Philipse,  Mary,  78,  162-164. 
Philipse,  Mrs.  Frederick,  77,  78. 
Phillips,  Wendell,  in. 
Phoenix,  Mrs.  Daniel,  147. 
Physick,    Philip   Syng,  M.D., 

190. 

Pierson,  Emeline  G.,  210. 
Pitkin,  Elizabeth,  148. 
Plowden,  Sir  Edward,  80. 
Powel,  52. 

Prentice,  Widow,  37. 
Preston,  Mrs.,  30. 
Princeton   College,  foundation 

of,  48. 
Pringle,  21. 

Putnam,  General  Israel,  144. 
Pynchon,  20. 
Pynchon,  Dr.  Charles,  58. 


Quarry,  Colonel  Robert,  26. 

R. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  192. 
Randolph,  Jane,  130. 
Randolph,  John,  81. 
Randolph,  Mary,  81,  in. 


Randolph,  Thomas  Mann,  Jr., 
81. 

Ravenel,  21. 

Rebecca,  heroine  of  "Ivan- 
hoe,"  231-237. 

Redwood  Library,  202. 

Reed,  Deborah,  132.  (Mrs. 
Benjamin  Franklin.) 

Reed,  George,  192. 

Richards,  Madam,  53. 

Richardson,  Joseph,  74. 

Ringgold,  General  Samuel,  186. 

Ringgold,  Mrs.  Samuel,  186. 

Rittenhouse,  David,  174. 

Roanoke,  81. 

Robin,  Abbe",  156. 

Robinson  House,  Newport,  202. 

Robinson,  Mrs.  Beverly,  163. 

Robinson,  Rev.  William,  48. 

Robinson,  William  T.,  202. 

Rodney,  20. 

Rogers,  B.  Woolsey,  212. 

Roosevelt,  169. 

Rosewell,  167. 

Royal,  Elizabeth,  204,  205. 

Rush,  Betsey,  147. 

Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin,  116,  119, 
i74- 

Rush,  Madam,  166. 

Rutherfurd,  Helen,  212. 

Rutledge,  John,  192. 

S. 

Saltonstall,  Rev.  Gurden,  37. 
Saltonstall,  Sir  Robert,  63. 
Sandys,  George,  HI. 
Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  80. 
Saxton,  137. 
Schuyler,  20,  169. 
Schuyler,  Mrs.  Philip,  127. 


INDEX. 


247 


Scott,  Sir  Walter,  233-237. 
Selden,  Samuel,  206,  207. 
Sewall,  Betty,  198. 
Sewall,  Judge  Samuel,  53,  75, 

89,  103. 

Sewall,  Mrs.  Samuel,  75. 
Sharswood,  Hon.  George,  71. 
Sherman,  Roger,  192. 
Sherwood,  Grace,  126. 
Shewell,  Thomas,  139,  140. 
Shippen,  Edward,  ist,  24. 
Shirley,  81. 
Shirley,  Governor  William,  155, 

i57- 

Shirley,  Mrs.  William,  157. 

Shrimpton,  Samuel,  22. 

Silk  Stocking  Company,  185. 

Skelton,  Martha,  151. 

Skipwith,  21. 

Smibert,  John,  90. 

Smith,  Thomas,  74. 

Snow  family,  of  Massachusetts, 
205. 

Southards  of  New  Jersey,  210. 

Sparhawk,  Nathaniel,  203. 

Sparhawk,  William  Pepperell, 
205. 

Spotswood,  Governor  Alexan 
der,  85-87. 

Spotswood,  Lady,  85-87. 

St.  Joseph's  Church,  221,  225. 

St.  Paul's  Church,  New  York, 

134,  J54- 

St.  Peter's  Church,  Philadel 
phia,  146. 

Stenton,  174. 

Stewart,  Mrs.  William,  88,  92. 

Stockton,  Hon.  Richard,  114, 
115. 

Stockton,  Julia,  116. 


Stockton,  Mary,  116. 
Stockton,    Mrs.    Richard,  113- 

116,  209. 
Stoddert,  Major  Benjamin,  180, 

181,  182. 

Stone,  William  L.,  170. 
Story,  Thomas,  16. 
Strettell,  Robert,  173. 
Stuart,  Gilbert,  91. 
Stuyvesant,  Governor,  39.  168. 
Surriage,  Agnes,  157,  158. 
Swanwick,  John,  92. 
Swift,  Miss,  92. 

T. 

Tautphoeus,  Baroness,  186. 
Tennent,  Rev.  William,  47. 
Tennent,  William,  47. 
Thomas,  Gabriel,  18,  28,  52,  74. 
Thomas,  Grace,  74. 
Tilghman,  84. 
Tilghman.  Judge,  190. 
Tilly,  Mr.,  180,  181,  182. 
Townsend,  Richard,  16. 
Trinity    Church,    New    York, 

i54- 

Trumbull,  John,  91. 
Turner,  Robert,  16,  24. 
Tyler,  205. 

V. 

Valentine,  Sarah,  127. 

Van  Cortlandt,  Stephen,  169. 

Van  Home,  212. 

Van  Rensselaer,  169. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Gratz,  236. 

Vaux,  George,  70. 

Vernon,  177. 

Vernon,  Admiral,  159. 

Vesey,  William,  154. 


248 


INDEX. 


Vow  Church,  76. 

W. 

Wakefield,  174. 

Ward,  Mrs.  Sophie  Howard, 
176. 

Ward,  Nathaniel,  43,  57. 

Ward,  Townsend,  187. 

Warren,  James,  in. 

Warren,  Mercy,  in,  112,  113. 

Washington,  Corbin,  149. 

Washington,  Mrs.  Corbin,  150. 

Washington,  General,  78, 97, 98, 
112,  144,  iSS-JSS,  158-164, 
176,  191,  192. 

Washington,  New  York  resi 
dence  of,  201. 

Washington,  Philadelphia  resi 
dence  of,  1 88. 

Washington,  Lawrence,  159, 
1 60. 

Washington,  Martha,  94,  153, 
189. 

Washington,  Mary,  130,  131, 
160,  163. 

Washington,  Milly,  149. 

Watts,  Robert,  Jr.,  212. 

Welcome,  the,  16. 

Wenchman,  George,  212. 

Wentworth,  20. 

Wentworth,  Lady,  141. 

West,  Benjamin,  91,  139-141. 

West,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  139-141. 

Westover,  81,  85,86. 

Wetherill,  183. 

Wharton,  Charles,  185. 


Wharton,  Mrs.,  of  Boston,  53. 

Wharton,  Mrs.  Thomas,  74. 

Wharton,  Thomas,  74. 

White,  Bishop  William,  153. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  93. 

Wigglesworth,  Michael,  105. 

Wilderness,  The,  149. 

Willing,  51. 

Willing,  Thomas,  52. 

Wilson,  James,  192. 

Wing,  Ann,  196. 

Winslow,  20. 

Winslow,  Anna  Green,  196, 
197. 

Winthrop,  Governor  John,  n, 
65,  100. 

Winthrop,  Governor  of  Con 
necticut,  37. 

Winthrop,  Henry,  102. 

Wistar,  Dr.  Casper,  174. 

Wister  House,  177-179. 

Wister,  John,  177. 

Wister,  Sally,  179,  180. 

Wolcott,  Roger,  22. 

Woodlands,  172,  174. 

Wright,  Susanna,  113. 

Wyanoke,  81, 

Wye  House,  81. 

Wynne,  Dr.  Thomas,  17. 

Y. 

Yonkers,  derivation  of  name, 
162. 

Z. 

Zenger  case, 172. 
Zinzendorf,  Count,  177. 


THE   END. 


14  DAY  USE 

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